How ancient trees reveal the hidden colonial history of our modern city landscapes
In short: Sophie Cunningham transforms urban exploration by reading cities through their oldest inhabitants: trees. By connecting colonial landmarks to remnant vegetation, she uncovers ecological shifts and human interventions that have otherwise vanished from memory. Her practice of walking reveals how the earth marks us just as we mark the page.
For writer Sophie Cunningham, the urban environment is a living archive. Working from the Abbotsford Convent, she highlights the Separation Oak, planted in 1851 to commemorate Victoria’s separation from New South Wales. This tree, left untrimmed, creates a natural green cave that stands in stark contrast to the surrounding tame landscape. It serves as a primary example of her broader project: documenting the history of cities through iconic, long-standing trees.
Cunningham’s methodology involves long, deliberate walks, a habit she adopted after returning to Melbourne from the United States. By traversing the city on foot, she develops a new lens through which to view her home, connecting the dots between colonial history and the ages of trees that predate or follow settlement. She argues that while writers mark the page, walkers mark the earth, and in turn, the earth leaves its mark on the walker.
This approach is perhaps best illustrated by her encounter with the Lion’s Head Tree, a majestic river red gum in the Royal Botanic Gardens. Its presence in a now-dry area acts as a silent witness to the landscape’s ecological past. River red gums naturally thrive near wetlands and riverbanks; their existence here betrays the fact that the Yarra River once encroached upon this land. Centuries ago, the river was dredged and straightened to move it away from the gardens, a massive environmental alteration that would be entirely imperceptible today if not for these water-loving trees.
Ultimately, Cunningham’s work suggests that trees are not merely decorative elements of a city but active communicators. By paying attention to these remnants, we are forced to ask deeper questions about how our urban spaces were constructed and what they replaced. Her practice invites us to know our surroundings through the soles of our feet, uncovering the layered, often forgotten histories embedded within the soil and the canopy.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Sophie Cunningham's creative inspiration drawn from nature | My Garden Path | Gardening Australia
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