The Coolart Wetlands and Homestead Reserve, or just Coolart, is an 87.5 ha estate on the

Western Port Western Port, (Boonwurrung: ''Warn Marin'') commonly but unofficially known as Western Port Bay, is a large tidal bay in southern Victoria, Australia, opening into Bass Strait. It is the second largest bay in the state. Geographically, it is do ...

coast of the

Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geogra ...

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 ...

, south-eastern

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 ...

, about 70 km south-east of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. It comprises a late 19th-century mansion-like homestead and surrounding grounds west of the village of Somers. Coolart is the remnant of one of the oldest grazing properties on the Mornington Peninsula. The homestead is set in a garden with adjacent

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 ...

s and coastal

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

s with walking tracks. It is managed by

Parks Victoria Parks Victoria is a government agency of the state of Victoria, Australia. Parks Victoria was established in December 1996 as a statutory authority, reporting to the Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change. The ''Parks Victoria Ac ...

and the homestead is open to the public. The homestead features an exhibition of historic photographs, and hosts changing art exhibitions. Coolart is a popular venue for picnics, nature walks and

birdwatching Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, b ...

Description

Coolart is bordered by Merricks Creek on the south, Somers School Camp on the east, Balnarring Beach road on the west and privately owned farmland on the north. It contains the Coolart Homestead, a substantial two-storey brick house, with a third-storey tower and several outbuildings. As well as a well-maintained garden there are several wetlands with a

bird hide A bird hide (blind or bird blind in North America) is a shelter, often camouflaged, that is used to observe wildlife, especially birds, at close quarters. Although hides or hunting blinds were once built chiefly as hunting aids, they are now commo ...

and a wetland observatory with educational facilities. There are also areas of woodland and farmland. The wetlands are home to a breeding colony of over 1000

Australian white ibis The Australian white ibis (''Threskiornis molucca'') is a wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is widespread across much of Australia. It has a predominantly white plumage with a bare, black head, long downcurved bill and blac ...

es, while

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

swamp wallabies The swamp wallaby (''Wallabia bicolor'') is a small macropod marsupial of eastern Australia. This wallaby is also commonly known as the black wallaby, with other names including black-tailed wallaby, fern wallaby, black pademelon, stinker (in Q ...

, and

echidna Echidnas (), sometimes known as spiny anteaters, are quill-covered monotremes (egg-laying mammals) belonging to the family Tachyglossidae . The four extant species of echidnas and the platypus are the only living mammals that lay eggs and the ...

s inhabit the woodlands.

History

Coolart was originally part of the traditional lands of the

Bunurong The Boonwurrung people are an Aboriginal people of the Kulin nation, who are the traditional owners of the land from the Werribee River to Wilsons Promontory in the Australian state of Victoria. Their territory includes part of what is now the c ...

people, with the word "coolart" deriving from "colourt" or "kulluk", the Bunurong name for nearby Sandy Point. With European settlement of the area Coolart was taken up as a

pastoral lease A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lease ...

in 1839 by the Meyrick brothers. Subsequently, the property went through various farming phases, including cropping and raising sheep and cattle. The Coolart estate was purchased as a farming property in 1895 by

Frederick Sheppard Grimwade Frederick Sheppard Grimwade (10 November 1840 – 4 August 1910) was a businessman and Victorian member of parliament. Born in Norfolk, England, Grimwade arrived in Victoria in 1863. In 1867 he bought a pharmaceutical company and renamed it F ...

, a Melbourne businessman and parliamentarian, with the homestead built immediately thereafter as his family's country retreat. The property passed through various hands during the early 20th century before it was acquired by Tom Luxton in 1937. Luxton persuaded the state government to declare the property a wildlife sanctuary and began a program of habitat development that included the construction of an artificial lake and other wetlands for

waterbird A water bird, alternatively waterbird or aquatic bird, is a bird that lives on or around water. In some definitions, the term ''water bird'' is especially applied to birds in freshwater ecosystems, although others make no distinction from seabi ...

s. When Luxton died in 1968 Coolart was purchased by the Victorian State Government for conservation and education purposes.

took over the management of the property in 1996, advised by the Coolart Wetlands and Homestead Trust. Coolart's land and buildings are 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 ...

. A plaque in the grounds of Coolart commemorates noted

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

and

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

Graham Pizzey Graham Martin Pizzey AM (4 July 1930 – 12 November 2001) was a noted Australian author, photographer and ornithologist. Early life and education Graham Pizzey was born and grew up in grew up in East Ivanhoe on the Yarra River. At age sev ...

as its First Warden (1980-1984).

External links

Parks Victoria: Coolart Homestead

References

{{reflist Mornington Peninsula Historic house museums in Victoria (Australia) Birdwatching sites in Australia Western Port Nature reserves in Victoria (Australia) Nature centres in Australia Homesteads in Victoria