Dunkeld, Victoria
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Dunkeld is a town in
Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...
, at the southern end of the
Grampians National Park The Grampians National Park, commonly known as the Grampians, is a national park located in the Grampians region of Victoria, Australia. The Jardwadjali name for the mountain range itself is Gariwerd. The national park is situated between ...
, in the
Shire of Southern Grampians The Shire of Southern Grampians is a local government area (LGA) 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 16,135. It incl ...
. It is approx 283 km west of Melbourne on the
Glenelg Highway Glenelg Highway is a rural highway in south-eastern Australia, linking the major regional centres of Mount Gambier in south-eastern South Australia with Ballarat in western Victoria. Route Glenelg Highway commences at the intersection with Pri ...
. The town's population is holding steady but aging. At the 2021 census, Dunkeld had a population of 688. The Djab wurrung people lived in this region to the south and east of the Grampians for over 4,000 years prior to the arrival of the Europeans. The first pastoralists took up properties in the late 1830s and there was a decade of sometimes violent clashes with the Djab wurrung. A small township developed which was initially known as Mount Sturgeon, after the European name for the mount behind the town. A post office of that name opened on 1 July 1852 (Dunkeld from 1 January 1854); but, as the early settlers were predominantly Scottish, it was renamed Dunkeld after a Scottish town which was the principal locality of the Caledonian picts in Roman times. At a strategic point south of the Grampians for road traffic and surrounded by fine wool producing country, Dunkeld thrived in the mid-19th century. The Robertson's Woolpack Inn was the first building to be erected in 1845, followed by five other hotels – the Shamrock and the Western, the Royal Mail, the Collins Railway Hotel and the Family Inn. Road traffic declined with the opening of the railway (1877 to Hamilton and Ararat, with another short-lived line going south to Penshurst).
Louis Buvelot Louis Buvelot (3 March 1814 – 30 May 1888), born Abram-Louis Buvelot, was a Swiss landscape painter who lived 17 years in Brazil, and following 5 years back in Switzerland, stayed 23 years in Australia, where he influenced the Heidelberg Sch ...
,
Eugene von Guerard Johann Joseph Eugene von GuérardHis first name is variously spelled "Eugen", "Eugene", "Eugène", one source mentions "Jean" (instead of "Johann"); his surname is spelled "Guerard" or "Guérard". The most frequent combination is that used by t ...
and
Nicholas Chevalier Nicholas Chevalier (9 May 1828 – 15 March 1902) was a Russian-born artist who worked in Australia and New Zealand. Early life Chevalier was born in St Petersburg, Russia, the son of Louis Chevalier, who came from Vaud, Switzerland, and was ov ...
all made paintings of the district, where Mt Murdadjoog (Mt Abrupt) and Mt Wurgarri (Mt Sturgeon) provide a backdrop. In January 1944, fires destroyed one-third of Dunkeld's houses and only the Royal Mail Hotel remains from the five original establishments. Today Dunkeld contains two upmarket restaurants and ample accommodation. There is also a general store, bakery with accommodation, five cafes, post office, art gallery, bookshop, gift shop, petrol station (under reconstruction 2019), pharmacy, primary school, childcare centre, local museum, bookshop, (sandstone) stonemason and a hardware store, tourist information centre and 2 churches. Residents access most other services they need in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
but the railway line has been closed for some years. Wool and hay production continues on the surrounding farms. The timber industry has now ceased, but there is at least one local vineyard. There is a caravan park with campsites and a variety of other tourist accommodation, and tourism is now the main employer. A 40-ha property, "Heathlands", was owned by naturalist Graham Pizzey, author of '' A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia''. Dunkeld has a horse racing club, the Dunkeld Racing Club, which runs the Dunkeld Cup meeting in November. The town, in conjunction with nearby township Glenthompson, has an
Australian rules football 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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
team, called Glenthompson-Dunkeld, competing in the Mininera & District Football League. The team won the league's premiership in 2010. Golfers play at the Grampians Golf Club on Victoria Valley Road.


References


External links


Official Tourism Victoria websiteRoyal Mail Hotel website
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state) Grampians (region) Western District (Victoria)