Barwon Heads (previously known as Point Flinders
) is a coastal township on the
Bellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula (Wathawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peni ...
, near
Geelong
Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the
Barwon River below
Lake Connewarre
Lake Connewarre ( Aboriginal Wathawurrung language: ''Kunawarr keelingk'' literally meaning ''black swan lake''), a shallow estuarine lake on the Barwon River, is located on the Bellarine Peninsula southeast of Geelong in the Australian stat ...
, while it is bounded to the west by farmland,
golf course
A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...
s and the
ephemeral
Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...
saline wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
Murtnaghurt Lagoon
Murtnaghurt Lagoon, also known as Murtnaghurt Swamp or Lake Murtnaghurt, is a shallow, ephemeral wetland west of the town of Barwon Heads on the southern coast of the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It comprise ...
. At the , Barwon Heads had a population of 3,875.
[
]
History
Barwon Heads lies within the territory of the Waddawurrung Balug clan, of the Wathaurong
The Wathaurong nation, also called the Wathaurung, Wadawurrung and Wadda Wurrung, are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the area near Melbourne, Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula in the state of Victoria. They are part of the Kulin all ...
people. Its traditional name is Koornoo. Barwon derives from the Wathaurong word Barrwang or Baarwon meaning magpie. The river and upstream lakes (Lake Connewarre
Lake Connewarre ( Aboriginal Wathawurrung language: ''Kunawarr keelingk'' literally meaning ''black swan lake''), a shallow estuarine lake on the Barwon River, is located on the Bellarine Peninsula southeast of Geelong in the Australian stat ...
and Reedy Lake) were frequented by Aboriginal hunters and fishermen, including the escaped convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...
, William Buckley, who lived with the Wathaurong for 32 years.
When European settlers arrived in Port Phillip in June 1835, a camp was established at Indented Head
Indented Head is a small coastal township located on the Bellarine Peninsula, east of Geelong, in the Australian state of Victoria. The town lies on the coast of the Port Phillip bay between the towns of Portarlington and St Leonards.
Indented ...
. Port Phillip Association
The Port Phillip Association (originally the Geelong and Dutigalla Association) was formally formed in June 1835 to settle land in what would become Melbourne, which the association believed had been acquired by John Batman for the association fr ...
surveyor, John Helder Wedge
John Helder Wedge (1793 – 22 November 1872) was a surveyor, explorer and politician in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania, Australia).G. H. Stancombe'Wedge, John Helder (1793 - 1872), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Online Edition
Wedge was ...
, explored the Bellarine Peninsula
The Bellarine Peninsula (Wathawurrung: ''Balla-wein'' or ''Biteyong'') is a peninsula located south-west of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, surrounded by Port Phillip, Corio Bay and Bass Strait. The peninsula, together with the Mornington Peni ...
, including the Barwon and its lakes, in August 1835.
It is unknown when colonists first took up land at Barwon Heads but, by the 1870s, a township was formed, with a Post Office opening in the area on 15 December 1889 (renamed Connewarre East in 1890 when a new Barwon Heads PO opened in the township).
Fishing was the mainstay of the town in its early years. In the 1920s and 1930s, the town became a popular holiday resort, and a number of the wealthier families of Melbourne and the Western District built houses here. The summer period still sees a large influx of holidaymakers to the town.
In 1959, the closing scenes of the film ''On the Beach'', based on a Nevil Shute
Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect h ...
novel about the end of the world, were filmed in the town.
The Barwon Heads Golf Club
The Barwon Heads Golf Club is a golf club located in Barwon Heads, Victoria. The club is located on the southern edge of the township of Barwon Heads and comprises an eighteen-hole links style championship course as well as a nine-hole 3-par cou ...
clubhouse, located on Golf Links Road and dating from 1923–24, is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register
The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. H ...
.
The former Barwon Heads Bridge
The Barwon Heads Bridge is a road bridge and a separate pedestrian bridge across the Barwon River between Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Austr ...
was also listed on the Register, but it was demolished in 2009 after being declared irreparable. A new bridge was constructed, which used components and design elements of the original bridge. A separate footbridge was built parallel to it.
Barwon Heads Bridge
The Barwon Heads Bridge
The Barwon Heads Bridge is a road bridge and a separate pedestrian bridge across the Barwon River between Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Austr ...
was opened in 1927, crossing the Barwon River between Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove. Prior to that, there had been a rowing boat service across the river. The bridge was a central element in the ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
television series ''SeaChange
''SeaChange'' is an Australian television program that ran from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC and in 2019 on the Nine Network. It was created by Andrew Knight and Deborah Cox and starred Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, William McInnes, John Howar ...
''.
In July 2006, the Victorian government
The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...
shelved plans to replace the heritage-listed
This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...
bridge with a new one.
A proposal was put forward to align a new bridge with Geelong Road, permitting traffic to bypass the main shopping precinct and primary school, but with the consequence of removing three homes. An independent panel was appointed by the then Minister for Planning, Rob Hulls
Rob Justin Hulls (born 23 January 1957) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1996 to 2012, representing the electorate of Niddrie. As well as serving as the Deputy Premier of Victoria, ...
, to decide on a bridge location. Evidence was presented for and against the Geelong Road site and the existing site, with the conclusion that the Geelong Road alignment was unsuitable for environmental, social, economic reasons.
On 16 March 2007, it was announced that the current bridge would be improved and there were no plans to build a second bridge upstream. In 2010, a new Barwon Heads road bridge was constructed on the alignment of the existing one, making use of its components and design elements. A parallel pedestrian bridge was also built.
''SeaChange'' and tourism
During the late 1990s, Barwon Heads was the primary location of filming for the popular Australian television series, ''SeaChange
''SeaChange'' is an Australian television program that ran from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC and in 2019 on the Nine Network. It was created by Andrew Knight and Deborah Cox and starred Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, William McInnes, John Howar ...
''. In the past decade Barwon Heads has become subject to what is colloquially known in some parts of Australia as the " seachange effect".
Since the ''SeaChange'' television series first aired in 1998 there has been a significant increase in tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
and real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
sales and development (both commercial and residential) in the area. This has resulted in a very substantial increase in property and land values, making the town an ideal location for property developer
Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...
s. Since then, the area has experienced a boom in tourist numbers during the summer months.
Nearby Thirteenth Beach
Thirteenth Beach is located west of Barwon Heads, Victoria, Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian conti ...
is a popular surfing location, the beach is named for its proximity to the 13th hole of the golf course. The town was subject to flooding, including a flood that lasted some weeks in 1952, until the construction of levee
A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...
banks in the 1950s.
The artist Jan Mitchell
Jan Mitchell (1940 – 17 March 2008) was an Australian artist, born in Melbourne, known for her painted bollards and work as a television graphic artist.
She spent her formative childhood years near Healesville, Victoria, before working in I ...
erected her first bollard sculptures in Barwon Heads. Visitors to the area will encounter the colourful soldier and parrot bollards which designate a route for the local children from the primary school, through the streets to the bike path, park and playground. She then went on to produce more than 100 bollards at the Waterfront Geelong
The Geelong Waterfront is a tourist and recreation area on the north facing shores of Corio Bay in Geelong, Australia. The area was once part of the Port of Geelong, falling into disuse before being redeveloped during the 1990s.
Attractio ...
.
Sport
The town has an Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...
team competing in the Bellarine Football League
The Bellarine Football Netball League (BFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Bellarine Peninsula region of Victoria, Australia. Established in 1971 as the Bellarine & District Football League, the competition ...
. It has made finals in a number of recent seasons, losing the grand final in an upset to Modewarre in 2018 but avenged that loss in 2019 winning its first premiership since 1993 by beating Torquay in the grand final.
Barwon Heads has a cricket club which won five premierships in eight seasons (2005/06, 2007/08, 2008/09, 2010/11 and 2013/14). They defeated Queenscliff in the A grade final on Sunday March 15, 2014 by 102 runs at Jan Juc. They are currently competing in the Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association.
Barwon Heads also boasts a tennis, bowls, surf life saving, cycling, surfing, soccer and pony club. Golfers play at the Barwon Heads Golf Club on Golf Links Road, or at the course of the Thirteenth Beach Golf Links on Barwon Heads Road. Barwon Heads has great recreational fishing from its river to the heads, it caters for all types of anglers.
Notable people
The footballer Jaxson Barham
Jaxson Barham (born 20 May 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer. He played seven senior games for the Collingwood Football Club from 2009–2010 before being delisted at the end of the 2010 season.
Background
Drafted under the Austr ...
and the entertainer Barry Crocker
Barry Hugh Crocker (born 4 November 1935
Official Barry Crocker website) is an Australian character actor, televisio ...
were born there.
Cadel Evans
Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along wi ...
, the cyclist
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
who won the 2011 Tour de France
The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th edition of the race. It started on 2 July at the Passage du Gois and ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July. The cyclists competed in 21 stages over 23 days, covering a distance of . The route en ...
, owns a house in the area and is regularly seen training on local roads.Riding buddies hail 'sensational' Cadel
ABC Online
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...
, 25 July 2011
References
External links
Australian Places – Barwon HeadsBarwon Heads town websiteBarwon Heads bridge history
{{authority control
Suburbs of Geelong
Towns in Victoria (Australia)
Coastal towns in Victoria (Australia)
SeaChange
Bellarine Peninsula