Connewarre, is a locality in

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, is located in the

City of Greater Geelong The City of Greater Geelong is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and, had a population of 271,057 as of the 2021 Australian census. ...

and

Surf Coast Shire The Surf Coast Shire is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 32,251. It includes the towns of ...

, and is named after

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 ...

which is situated immediately to its north-east. Connewarre is a version of "kunuwarra", the name of the

black swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon c ...

in the

Wathawurrung language Wadawurrung, also rendered as Wathawurrung, Wathaurong or Wada wurrung, and formerly sometimes Barrabool, is the Aboriginal Australian language spoken by the Wathaurong people of the Kulin Nation of Central Victoria. It was spoken by 15 clans ...

. At the , Connewarre and the surrounding area had a population of 788. Part of the Eastern Precinct of the large

Armstrong Creek Growth Area The Armstrong Creek Growth Area is a southern extension to the urban growth boundary of the metropolitan area of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It comprises parts of the localities of Grovedale and Marshall south of the Warrnambool railway line, a ...

was within Connewarre when urban development began in 2010, but in 2012, when the new suburb Armstrong Creek was gazetted, Connewarre's boundary was adjusted to exclude the area north of Lower Duneed Road and the west of Baenschs Lane, meaning that all of the Growth Area then lay outside Connewarre. Settlements near Connewarre include

Breamlea Breamlea, Victoria, Australia, is a secluded seaside hamlet located on the south coast of the Bellarine Peninsula, 18 kilometres south of Geelong, and halfway between Barwon Heads and Torquay. It is divided between the City of Greater Geelong ...

to the south,

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...

to the west and

Barwon Heads Barwon Heads (previously known as Point Flinders) is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, while it is bounded t ...

to the east.

History

The Post Office opened on 9 September 1860 and closed in 1967. An earlier Connewarre office was renamed Mount Duneed. The former Connewarre Primary School has been closed and merged with Mount Duneed Primary School.

Governance

The Connewarre road district was proclaimed in 1856, and extended in 1859 to include the Mount Duneed, Torquay & Breamlea districts. In 1874 it was amalgamated with South Barwon Borough to create South Barwon Shire. South Barwon Shire was proclaimed a City in 1974. In May 1993 South Barwon City was amalgamated with part of Bannockburn Shire, part of Barrabool Shire, Bellarine Rural City, Corio Shire, Geelong City, Geelong West City & Newtown City to form Greater Geelong City. The part that became part of Greater Geelong City then became part of Surf Coast Shire on its creation in March 1994.

References

Towns in Victoria (Australia) Coastal towns in Victoria (Australia) Suburbs of Geelong {{BarwonSouthWest-geo-stub