Winchelsea 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 ...

. The town is located in the

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 A ...

local government area, the suburb or locality of Winchelsea is predominantly within

with a small section within the

Colac Otway Shire The Shire of Colac Otway 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 21,503. It includes the towns ...

. Winchelsea is located on the Barwon River 115 km south-west 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 ...

and close to

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

(37 km north-east).

History

The first Europeans to reside in the area were squatters (Lomas's) who established grazing runs there c. 1837.

Thomas Austin Thomas Austin may refer to: *Thomas Austin (pastoralist) (1815–1871), English settler who introduced rabbits into Australia *Thomas Austin (American football) (born 1986), former American football center * Thomas Austin (cricketer) (1857–1941), ...

migrated from

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and occupied the present day site of Winchelsea in 1837. The area was then called Austin's Ford. Austin built up his estate of Barwon Park to , including a mansion which still stands today. The town developed around the Barwon Inn, established in 1842 by Prosper Nicholas Trebeck and Charles Bea

The Post Office opened as Barwon on 1 July 1848 and was renamed Winchelsea in 1854. The town was the administrative centre of the

Shire of Winchelsea The Shire of Winchelsea was a local government area about southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1860 until 1994. History Winchelsea was first incorporated as a road ...

, which was proclaimed in 1864, and which continued until 9 March 1994 when it was amalgamated with the

Shire of Barrabool The Shire of Barrabool was a local government area about southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1853 until 1994. History Barrabool was incorporated as the second ro ...

to become the Surf Coast Shire. The railway through the town was opened in 1876, as part of the line to the south west of the state. The local railway station is served by

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cross ...

passenger services on the Warrnambool line. Winchelsea Magistrates' Court closed on 1 October 1984.

Places of interest

* Barwon Hotel (1842) with a collection of historical artefacts. * Old Shire Hall *Barwon River Bridge - Opened by Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, on 3 December 1867 *Barwon Park Mansion - Built 1871 *The Globe Theatre

Heritage listed sites

Winchelsea contains a number of heritage listed sites, including: * 105 Inverleigh-Winchelsea Road,

Barwon Park Barwon may refer to: * Barwon, a horse which won the 1862 Victoria Derby * Electoral district of Barwon, in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Australia * HM Prison Barwon, a maximum security prison in Lara, Victoria, Australia * HMAS ''Barw ...

* Princes Highway, Barwon River Bridge * 70 Hopkins Street,

Eastern Reserve Memorial Grandstand and Gates Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

* 17-19 Willis Street,

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...

* 765 Ingleby Road,

Ingleby Homestead Ingleby may refer to: Places * Ingleby, Derbyshire, England, a hamlet and civil parish * Ingleby, Lincolnshire, England, a hamlet * Ingleby, Pennsylvania, United States, a ghost town People * Charles Ingleby, English judge * Charles Ingleby ...

Sport

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

Geelong & District Football League The Geelong & District Football League (GDFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball league in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, being the oldest surviving competition in the region. It is one of three leagues in the Geelong area, the other ...

. The Winchelsea Golf Club is located between Lorne Road and Lauders Lane. The course is popular with locals and tourists alike. The Winchelsea Cricket Club, formed in 1858 is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Victoria and currently compete in the Bellarine Peninsula Cricket Association

Notable people

* Elizabeth Phillips Harding (1821 – 1910) a pioneer settler at Winchelsea who was a philanthropist noted for her endowment towards setting up The Austin Hospital in Melbourne in 1882 * Thomas Austin (1815-1871) husband of Elizabeth Phillips Harding, he introduced rabbits into Australia. *

John Rout Hopkins John Rout Hopkins (18 August 1828 – 20 December 1897) was a politician in the Colony (later State) of Victoria, Australia. History John was born in Hobart, Tasmania on 18 August 1828, the second son of Henry and Sarah (née Rout) Hopkins. He l ...

1828-1897 a pioneer settler at Winchelsea who served in local government and the Victorian government for many years *

Marjorie Lawrence Marjorie Florence Lawrence CBE (17 February 190713 January 1979) was an Australian soprano, particularly noted as an interpreter of Richard Wagner's operas. She was the first Metropolitan Opera soprano to perform the immolation scene in ''Göt ...

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

, noted as an interpreter of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's operas, born at Deans Marsh, south of Winchelsea in 1907 *

Denis Napthine Denis Vincent Napthine (born 6 March 1952) is a former Australian politician who was the 47th Premier of Victoria. Napthine was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, representing the electoral district of Portland from ...

MP (1952- ) Premier of the State of Victoria *

Darcy Parish Darcy Parish (born 25 July 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer with the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early life Parish was born in Winchelsea, Victoria. He participated in the Auskick progr ...

(1997- ) AFL Footballer with the

Essendon Bombers The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

Albert Jacka Albert Jacka, (10 January 1893 – 17 January 1932) was an List of Australian Victoria Cross recipients, Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members o ...

VC, MC & Bar (1893 – 1932) Captain 14th Battalion AIF. First Australian to be decorated with the VC during the First World War.Victoria Cross: Lance Corporal Albert Jacka, 14 Battalion, AIF
Australian War Memorial

References

External links

The Sydney Morning Herald; Winchelsea -- Things to see
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) Surf Coast Shire