Devenish is a town in northern

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 ...

within the

Rural City of Benalla The Rural City of Benalla is a local government area in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and, in June 2018, had a population of 14,024. It includes the towns of Baddagin ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

, north of the state capital,

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 ...

. At the , Devenish and the surrounding area had a population of 360, declining to 197 by 2016.

History

The Post Office opened on 9 June 1877 as Broken Creek and was renamed Devenish in 1878. In 1883 on the arrival of the railway, the office was moved and named Devenish Railway Station, reverting to Devenish in about 1889 as the township developed. An earlier office dating from 1870, Major Plains, was known as Devenish from 1874 until 1878. The Devenish concrete grain silos were built between the railway line and the main street and opened to receive wheat in December 1943. Later the Bulk Oat storage building was built in 1965. In 2023, Devenish Primary School had just one student enrolled at the school.https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/revealed-victorias-smallest-schools-deliver-big-benefits/news-story/db864a5c5b52ad1bfa1448448b6a6483

Religion

The first Roman Catholic Church was built in Devenish in 1883 at number 959 Devenish Road. It was decommissioned in 2005 and put up for sale.

Balloons

The Australian

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries p ...

championships were held in Devenish in 2007.

Transport

Devenish used to have a railway station with 2 wheat silos that are still there but decommissioned on the

Oaklands railway line, Victoria The Oaklands railway line is a freight-only railway line in north-eastern Victoria, Australia. The line branches from the main North East railway at Benalla station and runs across the Victoria-New South Wales border to the town of Oaklands, ...

. V/line operates 3 coach services (weekdays) and 2 coach services (weekends) 7 days a week from Benalla to Yarrawonga. The coach service stops at Devenish along the way, and connects to V/line train services to/from Melbourne (Southern Cross) at Benalla Station.

Sport

The town had an

Australian Rules 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 ...

football team that formed in the early 1890s, initially competing in the Benalla- Yarrawonga Line Association, and later in the

Benalla & District Football League The original Benalla District Football League was formed in 1929 from the following clubs - Baddaginnie, Benalla - "B", Swanpool, Tatong, Thoona and Winton. The Benalla & District Football League (B&DFL) was formed immediately after World War T ...

until the league folded due to lack of players. Premierships were won in the years 1902 and 1909, then again in 1914, 1922, 1929, 2003 & 2005.

References

External links

Towns in Victoria (state) Rural City of Benalla {{Hume-geo-stub