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HISTORY OF RED HILL

Red Hill lies within the lands of the Ngunnawal. Aboriginals would have made many uses of the Kurrajong (Brachychiton populneum), which has a round even trunk, with fleshy leaves that are sometimes three-lobed. Seeds, removed of their outer coatings, were eaten raw or roasted. The yam-like tuberous roots of young plants were also eaten. The inner bark provided fibre for dilly bags and fishing lines.

Early explorers and visitors to the Canberra region such as Currie and Evans and the Government botanist Allan Cunningham were impressed by the richness of its woodland environment. European settlement though saw major inroads being made into this woodland environment with the introduction of foreign grasses and other plants at the expense of native vegetation. Early photographs and maps of Red Hill show it was not exempt with large areas cleared of trees for grazing.

At the time of Canberra's selection as the nation's capital Red Hill formed a part of the "Duntroon" property. It was subsequently acquired by the fledgling Commonwealth. Walter Burley Griffin's vision for Canberra included the regeneration of native vegetation on its denuded hills. In 1917 he called for grazing to cease on Red Hill so that natural revegetation accompanied by planting could occur. However, agistment grazing continued on Red Hill up until 1997.

From 1917 to the early 1920s, following Walter Burley Griffin's plan to have red flowering plants on Red Hill, Charles Weston directed the planting of about 5,000 Callistemon citrinus (Crimson Bottlebrush) and Grevillea rosmarinifolia (Rosemary Grevillea) shrubs near the summit roads. Many of these plants have survived and multiplied.

Two large water reservoirs were built in 1939. They were to augment the water supply from Mt Stromlo reservoir to the suburb of Red Hill and southern Canberra.

Red Hill has seen the intrusion of roads, power lines, water reservoirs and has been the site of a quarry and rubbish tip while a considerable portion was excised for a golf course. More...

Red Hill forms a backdrop to Parliament House

Red Hill's situation as a backdrop to Parliament House and the city has long been recognised as an important part of Canberra's landscape as the nation's capital. An essential component of this aspect of Red Hill has been its native vegetation, an aspect especially recognised since the 1960's by Canberra's planners.

This awareness by Canberra's planners coincided with increasing community awareness in the 1960's and '70's of environmental matters and the need to preserve, restore and regenerate Canberra's native bushland. Since 1989, under the government's Park Care program a community volunteer bush regeneration group, the Red Hill Regenerators, has been working to restore Red Hills woodland to its former glory.

Surveys of the vegetation quality on Red Hill which were undertaken in 1988 and 2011 show the impact of the work done by the Red Hill Regenerators.