Chifley Home and Education Centre Garden Project

Chifley Home and Education Centre has recently been successful in securing a grant from the Copland Foundation to upgrade the gardens of the museum.  

The Chifley Home Garden project aims to return the gardens of the museum to a state that reflects the time Ben and Elizabeth Chifley resided there. Ben and Elizabeth loved their garden, which included showy dahlias, a vegetable patch, colourful annuals and maintained hedges. Ben was known to take cuttings from The Lodge in Canberra when he was Prime Minister to add to their garden in Bathurst. 

Bathurst Mayor, Robert Taylor, noted that this project will breathe new life into the museum’s surrounds and bring the gardens back to the showpiece they once were.  

“This project will highlight the sustainability of the era, by using plants that can be propagated by cuttings or division, as this was often how gardens were filled during the early to mid 1900s.  

“The new garden will create an attractive entryway for the museum, increasing street appeal for visitors and neighbours. It will include plants known to be in the original garden which are drought tolerant and frost hardy, whilst retaining some existing plants, at least two of which were planted at the time of the Chifleys. Importantly, this project will kindly tip the hat to the Chifleys and their known love of gardening,” said Mayor Taylor. 

The project requires intense work on each of the garden beds, which have not had dedicated, qualified gardeners in several years. Soil preparation, irrigation installation, salvaging of some of the existing plants and extensive weed removal will all be completed.    

Work on the gardens commenced mid-August and is anticipated to be completed in 6-8 weeks. The museum remains open to the public throughout this time. 

Chifley Home and Education Centre can be found at 10-12 Busby Street, South Bathurst and is open 11am-3pm 6 days a week, closed on Thursdays. Find out more about the museum, here: museumsbathurst.com.au/chifley.      

Media contact: Genevieve Green Media and Communications Officer  

P: 02 6333 6179 M: 0448 685 340 E: genevieve.green@bathurst.nsw.gov.au