Lavers Hill is a town 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 ...

, located inland from

Port Campbell Port Campbell () is a coastal town in Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Great Ocean Road, west of the Twelve Apostles, in the Shire of Corangamite. At the , Port Campbell had a population of 478. History The port and the town are named ...

and from

Apollo Bay Apollo Bay is a coastal town in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the eastern side of Cape Otway, along the edge of the Barham River and on the Great Ocean Road, in the Colac Otway Shire. The town had a population of 1,790 at ...

. The township is located approximately south-west 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

2016 census Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...

, Lavers Hill had a population of 78.

History

Lavers Hill was named after two settlers from Gippsland called Stephen and Frank Laver. The first saw mill was opened in 1900 and so was the church next to the College. Old families from as far back as the 1880s still reside near Lavers Hill, e.g. Speight, Hampshire and Farrell. Development of Lavers Hill happened quickly. Lavers Hill depended on logging and agriculture for its income. It also is dependent on tourism. A bank was opened in 1906, the community hall was opened, a cheese factory and butcher shop were built and also a hotel. A lot of these businesses have closed down. The Community hall was literally blown over in 1930 and rebuilt in 1933. The hotel was burnt down in 1919 and again in 1930. The cheese factory closed and so did the butcher.

Lavers Hill School

The Lavers Hill school was opened in 1910 as a rented room in the cheese factory. Another school was built near the church in 1911. In 1953, Johanna school and this were consolidated. At one point, Lavers Hill school had 500 kids. Today it has around 100 students from

Beech Forest Beech Forest is a town in Victoria, Australia. The area of Beech Forest is largely used for potato farming. History The town was named after the many myrtle beech trees of the area. Beech Forest Post Office opened on 10 May 1890 and closed in ...

, Ferguson, Gellibrand, Colac, Lower Gellibrand,

Johanna Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek /h/ cou ...

and Hordernvale and was opened in 1911. This school has recently celebrated its centenary on 2/3 April 2011.It caters for students ranging from kindergarten to Year 12.

Town Features

Tourist information is located at the newest establishment in Lavers Hill. Built from recycled local materials "The Shoppe" showcases the produce and products of the local residents and has an onsite cafe serving homemade pastries and great coffee. Lavers Hill Post Office opened around 1902. Its name is Yatzies and is currently owned by the Yates family. This town used to have a bakery called McDuff's, however it has ceased to function and is up for sale. There is a town hall, opened in 1933. Locals use it for CERT meetings, badminton matches, progress meetings and other uses like that. On the way to Port Campbell, along the right of the road, there is a police station. Opposite to the Police Station there is the roadhouse and the tavern. Lavers Hill is a favourite among tourist hotspots as it is only half an hour to the Twelve Apostles, an hour to Colac, is on the Great Ocean Road, is half an hour to the Otway Fly, and is less than an hour to Apollo Bay. It is the meeting point of the roads to Colac, Cobden, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell.

References

External links

Great Ocean Road info
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state) Otway Ranges