Winchelsea South is a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

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 . It had a population of 32,251 in June 2018. It includes the towns o ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

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 ...

. In the , Winchelsea South had a population of 179 people. Winchelsea South has always been a sparsely populated rural area, with the locality most known for a

brown coal Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, Combustion, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered ...

mine which operated within its boundaries from 1921 until 1928, and again from 1931 to 1932, and from 1943 to 1957. The mine, alternately known as the Winchelsea South, Bambra or Wensleydale coal mine, was owned respectively by Western District Coal Mines Pty. Ltd, Otway Coal Co. Ltd, Wensley Bray Coal Mine Pty. Ltd. and finally Roche Bros. Pty. Ltd. It sold coal to industrial establishments in

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 ...

, and supplied the cement works at Fyansford. In 1923-24, an aerial ropeway was built from the mine to a coal loading bin on the Wensleydale railway line, and it operated until the mine's closure in 1932. The ropeway was damaged in the 1939 Black Friday fires and did not reopen with the mine in 1943. The mine's final owners installed coal loading facilities at Winchelsea railway station instead, and sold the coal further afield within Victoria. The mine closed in 1957, having produced about three million tons of coal. The opening of a newer mine at Anglesea, which was said to be more easily worked, was given as a major reason for its closure. The Wensleydale mine was flooded thereafter, becoming a lake, which has been used for water sports, and forms one of the main features of the locality today.

References

{{authority control Towns in Victoria (state)