Newtown is a locality situated on Pitfield Road ( Lismore - Scarsdale Road) in

Golden Plains Shire The Golden Plains Shire is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central-western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018, had a population of 23,120. It includes the towns of Bannockburn, Inverleigh, L ...

, 144 km north-west of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, in Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The Post Office opened on 12 November 1868 as Newtown-Scarsdale (to distinguish it from Newtown, now a suburb of

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

). The office closed in 1957. The Ballarat-Skipton Rail Trail follows the former railway line from

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Aire and the Leeds ...

, crossing the Woady Yaloak River on the nearby Nimmons Trestle Bridge, which is one of the largest timber

trestle bridge A trestle bridge is a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by closely spaced frames usually carrying a railroad line. A trestle (sometimes tressel) is a rigid frame used as a support, historically a tripod used to support a st ...

s in Victoria. The former recreation reserve, Newtown Cricket and Mustering Reserve, is currently unused. The surrounding grassland is classified as a biodiversity reserve by the Ballarat Environment Network.

Notable residents

* Charles McGrath (1872–1934), politician

References

Towns in Victoria (state) Golden Plains Shire {{GrampiansAU-geo-stub