Arboretum

Rain Forest

The Crommelin Native Arboretum is a special place in Pearl Beach that we all enjoy. It covers an area of 4.5 hectares. Set aside by Gosford City Council in November 1976 at the request of the Pearl Beach Progress Association for the development of a native botanic garden.
It has been developed and is maintained on a voluntary basis by a management committee elected annually by the members of the Arboretum, together with the help of many members of the Pearl Beach community. You can express your interest in maintaining this natural bushland area by becoming a member of the Crommelin Native Arboretum Incorporated.

Grass land

The Pleasance

Tennis Courts

Playground

WHY CROMMELIN?
The Arboretum is named after Miss Minard Fannie CROMMELIN MBE who lived in Pearl Beach for 30 years prior to her death in 1972 at the age of 90. Minard CROMMELIN first came to Pearl Beach with her friend Charles Pryce in a small cedar sailing boat about 1910 and of this visit she wrote;

'the beach is so beautiful with a great number of Cabbage Tree Palms growing along the little creeks and up the volleys and hillsides. There were many shells, little rock warblers hung their nests from the roof of the caves under Mount Ettalong...'

Minard CROMMELIN developed a life-long interest in botany and natural history and was an avid conservationist well before this concept was popular. She worked tirelessly for the establishment of Warrah Sanctuary, which later became part of Brisbane Water National Park. As a result Miss Crommelin was largely responsible for the the bushland that surrounds Pearl Beach.

Her property at Pearl Beach which is near the Arboretum was given by deed of gift to the University of Sydney and is now the Crommelin Biological Research Station.

The name CROMMELIN NATIVE ARBORETUM was gazetted by the Geographical Names Board on 15th May 1978.

return to top

This page was last updated on 01 Sep 2003