Winchelsea, Victoria

Winchelsea is a town in Victoria, Australia. Most of the town is located in the Surf Coast Shire local government area, with a small section part of the Shire of Colac Otway. Winchelsea is located on the Barwon River 115 km south-west of Melbourne and close to Geelong (37 km north-east).HistoryThe first Europeans to reside in the area were squatters who established grazing runs there c. 1837. Thomas Austin migrated from Tasmania 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 29,000acres, including a mansion which still stands today.The town developed around the Barwon Inn, established in 1842 by Prosper Nicholas Trebeck and Charles Beal. 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, which was proclaimed in 1864, and which continued until March 9, 1994 when it was amalgamated with the Shire of Barrabool to become the Surf Coast Shire.The railway though 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 passenger services on the Warrnambool line.