Heyfield is a town in
Victoria,
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 ...
, with a population of 1,993.
It is east of
Melbourne, in the
Shire of Wellington local government area. Located on the
Thomson River, Heyfield is a gateway to the Victorian High Country.
History
In 1841 an early settler,
James McFarlane
James Walter McFarlane (12 December 1920, Sunderland – 9 August 1999, Stody, Norfolk) was a scholar of European literature, author of ''The Oxford Ibsen'', and founding Dean of the School of European Studies at University of East Anglia which ...
, described the district as resembling "a field of waving corn", and called it "Hayfield". By 1866, the spelling had changed to "Heyfield", but exactly when and why this happened is unclear. It may have been renamed to reflect the spelling of the nearby Heyfield Station.
In 1866, McFarlane's property was taken over by
James Tyson, a former member of the
Queensland Legislative Council, a pastoralist, and considered Australia's first self-made millionaire.
The town grew up as a stopping point for diggers on their way to the
Gippsland goldfields, and the Post Office opened on 24 September 1870.
The Heyfield Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1983, not having been visited by a Magistrate since 1970.
It is today known for its
agriculture and
timber production. It is the principal source of hardwood in Victoria, and the largest timber mill in the Southern Hemisphere, Australian Sustainable Hardwoods, is located there. The district's irrigation water comes from
Lake Glenmaggie
Glenmaggie is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on the shores of Lake Glenmaggie, in the Shire of Wellington. At the 2016 census, Glenmaggie and the surrounding area had a population of 277.
Glenmaggie Post Office opened on 1 January 1872 ...
.
During the
Gippsland bushfires in December 2006 and January 2007, the town was used as a staging area by the networked fire agencies, being, the
Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE),
Country Fire Authority
The Country Fire Authority (CFA) is a volunteer fire service responsible for fire suppression, rescues, and response to other accidents and hazards across most of the state Victoria, Australia. CFA comprises over 1,200 brigades organised in 21 ...
(CFA),
Victoria Police, and the
Victorian State Emergency Service (SES).
A skatepark was built in Heyfield in December 2005.
Heyfield and its surroundings were also victims of severe flash floods twice during winter and spring in 2007. The Thomson River burst its banks and rendered the road out of Heyfield impassable.
The town has 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 competing in the
North Gippsland Football League
The North Gippsland Football League (NGFL) is an Australian rules football league in the Central Gippsland area of Victoria, Australia.
History
The NGFL was formed in 1955 through the merger of the Cowwarr Football League and the Sale Distric ...
.
Golfers play at the course of the Heyfield Golf Club on Golflinks Road.
Cultural notes
The author
Mary Grant Bruce started writing her ''Billabong'' series of books in 1910 while staying at James Tyson's former house.
The poet
Shaw Neilson spent some time in the Heyfield area in the 1920s, where he wrote several poems and helped in the construction of the Lake Glenmaggie weir wall.
Notable people
*
Wil Anderson - Australian stand-up comedian and TV and radio personality
*
David Wojcinski - Geelong FC Player.
*
Leigh Brown - Retired Collingwood FC Player. Melbourne FC assistant coach.
*
Brent Macaffer - Collingwood FC Player.
Gallery
File:Heyfield police station - April 2021.jpg, Police station
File:Heyfield primary school - April 2021.jpg, Primary school
File:Heyfield Railway Hotel - April 2021.jpg, Railway Hotel
File:Heyfield war memorial - April 2021.jpg, War memorial
File:Saint James Anglican Church in Heyfield - April 2021.jpg, Saint James Anglican Church
References
External links
Heyfield
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Towns in Victoria (Australia)
Towns in Central Gippsland
Shire of Wellington