Bacchus Marsh, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Bacchus Marsh is an urban centre and suburban locality in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 located approximately 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) west of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 and 14 kilometres (9 mi) west of Melton
Melton, Victoria
Melton is an outer-suburban city of Melbourne Victoria, Australia located 35 km east from Melbourne's central business district. It is the administrative centre for the Shire of Melton Local Government Area. At the 2006 Census, the Shire of Melton had a population of 35,490...

. The population of the urban area (including suburbs) is estimated at over 17,000 people, while the central locality (suburb) is home to 5,566 people. It is the largest urban area in the local government area of Shire of Moorabool
Shire of Moorabool
The Shire of Moorabool is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the southwestern part of the state. It has an area of 2,110 square kilometres. In 2006 it had a population of 25,474....

.

Officially still a town, it is traditionally a market garden
Market gardening
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. It is distinguishable from other types of farming by the diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre ...

 area, producing a large amount of the area's fruits and vegetables. In recent times it has become a major commuter town
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...

 of Melbourne, as a result of being one of the major towns in the Melbourne-Ballarat
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...

 corridor just beyond the metropolitan urban growth boundary
Urban growth boundary
An urban growth boundary, or UGB, is a regional boundary, set in an attempt to control urban sprawl by mandating that the area inside the boundary be used for higher density urban development and the area outside be used for lower density development.An urban growth boundary circumscribes an...

, the formerly sleepy town's population is growing rapidly due primarily to its affordable starter home
Starter home
A starter home or starter house is a house that is usually the first which a person or family can afford to purchase, often using a combination of savings and mortgage financing. In the real estate industry the term commonly denotes small one- or two-bedroom houses, often older homes but sometimes...

s.

It was named after one of its original inhabitants, Captain William Henry Bacchus, who saw the great value of this locality as it was situated on two rivers — the Lerderderg
Lerderderg River
The Lerderderg River is a river in Victoria, Australia. The river begins in the Lerderderg State Forest and ends when it merges into the Werribee River just out of the town of Bacchus Marsh....

 and Werribee
Werribee River
The Werribee River is located on the plain west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The headwaters of a tributary, the Lerderderg River, are north of Ballan near Daylesford and it flows across the basalt plain, through the suburb of Werribee to enter Port Phillip. A linear park follows the Werribee...

.

Aboriginal

It is believed that the tribe occupying the area at the time of white settlement were the Kurung. Bacchus Marsh was a meeting ground for anywhere between 150 and 400 Aborigines even after white settlement, and corroboree
Corroboree
A corroboree is a ceremonial meeting of Australian Aborigines. The word was coined by the European settlers of Australia in imitation of the Aboriginal word caribberie. At a corroboree Aborigines interact with the Dreamtime through dance, music and costume. Many ceremonies act out events from the...

s were held quite regularly. While there do not appear to be any records of open hostilities between whites and indigenous people, by 1863 there were a total of only 33 Aborigines left in the Bacchus Marsh district, and apart from a handful of recollections of the original inhabitants preserved by pioneer settlers, sadly little remains apart from present-day locality names, mainly of watercourses: Coimadai, Djerriwarrh, Korkuperrimul, Lerderderg, Merrimu, Myrniong, Werribee.

European settlement

One of the first white men to reach the Bacchus Marsh valley was pastoralist Kenneth Scobie Clarke (c. 1806–79), a native of Sutherland
Sutherland
Sutherland is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic administrative county of Scotland. It is now within the Highland local government area. In Gaelic the area is referred to according to its traditional areas: Dùthaich 'IcAoidh , Asainte , and Cataibh...

 in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. Clarke was a manager for the Great Lake Company of Van Diemen’s Land and arrived in the Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...

 District from George Town
George Town, Tasmania
George Town is one of the larger towns in north-east Tasmania, on the eastern bank of the mouth of the Tamar River. At the 2006 census, George Town had a population of 4,266. It is the regional centre of the George Town Council Local Government Area....

 on 25 March 1836. Captain Bacchus credited Clarke as being the first man to shear sheep in Victoria, although the Hentys had arrived in Portland
Portland, Victoria
The city of Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of Victoria, Australia. It is the main urban centre of the Shire of Glenelg. It is located on Portland Bay.-History:...

 with their sheep some two years earlier.

On 29 November 1836, Clarke headed west from Port Phillip with a large flock of sheep, arriving in the Bacchus Marsh district a few days later. He built a hut on the west bank of the Lerderderg River
Lerderderg River
The Lerderderg River is a river in Victoria, Australia. The river begins in the Lerderderg State Forest and ends when it merges into the Werribee River just out of the town of Bacchus Marsh....

 near Darley, and lived there until early 1838. According to pastoralist George Russell, Clarke had acted on information obtained from Mr Aitken, an Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 man, who was most put out when he discovered that Clarke had beaten him to the Pentland Hills run.

In 1838, Englishman Captain William Henry Bacchus (1782–1849) and his son William Henry Bacchus junior (1820–87) also brought sheep from Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

 and came to the district which now bears their name. On their arrival, Clarke made an arrangement with them and ceded his run, moving to the nearby hills known as the Pentlands. The then very swampy valley was not really suitable for sheep, as they were prone to footrot. Clarke stayed in the district until 1840 or 1841, and later went to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, where he died in 1879.

As all land within 3 miles (5 km) of a squatter
Squatting (pastoral)
In Australian history, a squatter was one who occupied a large tract of Crown land in order to graze livestock.  Initially often having no legal rights to the land, they gained its usage by being the first Europeans in the area....

’s hut was considered to belong to him, Bacchus and his son immediately set about consolidating their land holdings. By 1839–40, they had a homestead and four outstations on the Lardedark run, which in 1845 covered about 22 square miles (57 km²) and carried nearly 3,000 sheep. Between 1845–47 Captain Bacchus built the Manor House, a two-storey Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

 brick building that still stands in the township today. Captain Bacchus died in 1849 and was buried in what later became the grounds of Holy Trinity Anglican Church
Holy Trinity Church, Bacchus Marsh
Holy Trinity Church is an Anglican church in Gisborne Road, in the town of Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. The church was established in 1851.-History:*Pre 1849 - Bacchus Marsh was probably served by itinerant preachers from around 1847....

, Gisborne Road. By 1851, Henry Bacchus junior had sold his holdings in Bacchus Marsh and moved to Peerewur (or Perewerrh) run near Ballarat
Ballarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...

.

A small stone bridge crossing Djerriwarrh Creek was built by Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 immigrants in the 1850s to assist travel to the Ballarat goldfields. One of its builders, Richard Griffith, decided to remain in the area and his family still works the farm that surrounds the bridge reserve.

The beginnings of local government

The township was originally known as Ballan, a Post Office opening under that name around July 1844 (Bacchus Marsh from July 1, 1850).
The Bacchus Marsh Road District Board was proclaimed on 30 September 1856, with one of its first tasks being to construct a gravel road through the town, as at that time the road was barely passable in winter. Bacchus Marsh was created a district on 14 October 1862, and the Road Board was the governing body until the Shire of Bacchus Marsh was proclaimed on 23 January 1871. The railway came to Bacchus Marsh on 15 February 1887, and the through line to Ballarat was built in 1890.'

Urban Structure

It covers a large area in the Werribee Valley with its Central Business District centred along Main Street between Bennett Street to the north, Grant Street/Gisborne Road to the west, Young/Lord Streets to the east and Waddell/Simpson Streets to the south. Bacchus Marsh Village shopping centre is its main indoor shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

.

Beyond the central area, it has spread to suburban areas incorporating the former towns of Darley
Darley, Victoria
Darley is a suburb of Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Australia located directly north of the central area across the Western Freeway. It is the most populous locality and earliest settlement in Bacchus Marsh...

 (1861) to the north and Maddingley to the south as suburban areas and is rapidly sprawling into surrounding areas including Parwan, Hopetoun Park and Merrimu.

Transport

The main form of transport is the automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

. It is bypassed by the Western Freeway
Western Freeway (Victoria)
The Western Freeway is a 125 kilometre Australian freeway linking the state capital of Victoria to the major regional city of Ballarat...

 which is the main road to Melbourne (approximately 48 minutes) and Ballarat (46 minutes) and which divides Bacchus Marsh and its northern suburb Darley. The entrance from Melbourne was formerly via Anthonys Cutting, a relatively steep downhill run, which is speed limited to 80 km/h, however the freeway has now been realigned under the Victorian Transport Plan
Victorian Transport Plan
The Victorian Transport Plan is a now defunct transport planning framework for the state of Victoria, Australia announced on Monday 9 December 2008 by then Premier of Victoria, John Brumby...

 to the south to increase speed limits and decrease travel times by road. A feature is the Avenue of Honour
Avenue of honour
Avenue of Honour is the term given to a memorial avenue of trees, with each tree symbolising a person.The tradition, which originated in the Goldfields region of Victoria, Australia is an important part of Australian culture....

 — several kilometres of elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...

 trees planted along the old main road from Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, to honour those who served in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

The Bacchus Marsh
Bacchus Marsh railway station, Victoria
Bacchus Marsh is a railway station located at Station Street Maddingley, Victoria and serving the town of Bacchus Marsh in Victoria, Australia. The station is 52 kilometres from Flinders Street Station in Melbourne by rail. It is served by V/Line passenger services on the Ballarat Line.The station...

 station is on the Ballarat
Ballarat railway line, Victoria
The Serviceton railway line is a railway serving the west of Victoria, Australia. The line links the state capital of Melbourne to the cities of Ballarat and Ararat, and once extended to the South Australian border as part of the Melbourne-Adelaide railway...

 line. V/Line
V/Line
V/Line is a not for profit regional passenger train and coach service in Victoria, Australia. It was created after the split-up of VicRail in 1983. V/Line is owned by the V/Line Corporation which is a Victorian State Government statutory authority...

 provides VLocity services to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 (from 38 minutes) and Ballarat (from 34 minutes).

A bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...

 service connects the station with the town centre and other residential areas.

Bacchus Marsh Airfield
Bacchus Marsh Airfield
Bacchus Marsh Airfield is located Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Australia.The airfield is owned by the Shire of Moorabool, but is operated by the Bacchus Marsh Airfield Management...

 (located in Parwan to the south) provides for general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

 and the area is home to flying and gliding
Gliding
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.Gliding as a sport began in the 1920s...

 schools.

Recreation and Open Space

One of its principal recreation areas is Maddingley Park, which is a favourite picnic destination for both locals and visitors.

Walks along the Lerderderg River provide access to the steep, rugged and overgrown Lerderderg Gorge
Lerderderg Gorge
The Lerderderg Gorge is in Victoria, Australia. The Lerderderg River which emerges from the Great Dividing Range has cut a deep gorge as it winds toward the southern plains.-Location:37°37'35"S x 144°25'44"E to 37°23'42"S x 144°19'06"E...

 and the extensive Wombat State Park that surrounds it, criss-crossed by four-wheel drive tracks, extensive bushwalking amongst historic mining relics and natural bush.

Health services

The township of Bacchus Marsh is serviced by the Djerriwarrh Health Services (Bacchus Marsh Hospital) formerly, Bacchus Marsh War Memorial Hospital, and several general practice medical centres, including The Elms Family Medical Centre located at the Bacchus Marsh Village Shopping Centre on Main Street near the Avenue of Honour, and the Bacchus Marsh Medical Centre on Turner Street.

The Elms Family Medical Centre was established in 1994 and is actively involved in the teaching and mentoring of future general practitioners. Doctors from both practices provide comprehensive medical care to patients at the Bacchus Marsh Hospital, as well as at the local Providence Aged Care Hostel and Grant Lodge Nursing Home.

Education

Schools in Bacchus Marsh include:
  • Bacchus Marsh Primary School
  • Darley Primary School
  • Pentland Primary School
  • St Bernard's Primary School (Catholic)
  • Balliang East Primary
  • Bacchus Marsh College
    Bacchus Marsh College
    Bacchus Marsh College is a secondary school in the town of Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Australia. It was opened in 1912 as Bacchus Marsh High School, and then later became Bacchus Marsh Secondary College. The college started with 38 students...

  • Bacchus Marsh Grammar School
    Bacchus Marsh Grammar School
    Bacchus Marsh Grammar School is an independent, co-educational secondary school day school located in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Australia.-History:Bacchus Marsh Grammar School opened its doors in 1988 and celebrated its 21st anniversary in 2009...



Adult & Vocational Education

Sports and community groups

  • Australian rules football
    Australian rules football
    Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

    , Cricket
    Cricket
    Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

     and Netball
    Netball
    Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

     are all very popular.

  • Notable sporting teams include Darley Football Club
    Darley Football Club
    The Darley Football Netball Club, nicknamed the Devils, is an Australian Rules Football club playing in the Ballarat Football League.The club is based in the Victorian town of Bacchus Marsh.-History:...

     and Bacchus Marsh Football Club
    Bacchus Marsh Football Club
    Bacchus Marsh Football and Netball Club, is located in Bacchus Marsh and competes in the Ballarat Football League which is part of the Victorian Country Football League.The home ground of Bacchus Marsh is Maddingley Park, located to the south of Bacchus Marsh....

     who both compete in the Ballarat Football League
    Ballarat Football League
    The Ballarat Football League is an Australian rules football competition that operates in the Ballarat region of Victoria, Australia.The competition formed in 1893 as the Ballarat Football Association and was renamed Ballarat Football League in 1908 and was briefly known as the Ballarat-Wimmera...

    .

  • Another sport that has come popular over the years in Bacchus Marsh is the Korfball
    Korfball
    Korfball is a mixed gender team sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. A team consists of eight players; four female and four male. A team also includes a coach. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1902 by Nico Broekhuysen. In the Netherlands there are around 580 clubs, and over a...

     Association.

  • Golfers play at the Bacchus Marsh Golf Club on Links Road or at the Bacchus Marsh West Golf Club on Rowsley Road.

  • The Bacchus Marsh Tennis Club maintains 6 artificial grass courts, 3 red porous, and 13 grass courts. It is a social venue for all groups and abilities, with well maintained multi-surface courts including grass, artificial grass and red porous. A full time club coach is available for private and group lessons.

  • The airfield is also the home of three gliding clubs. Pilots from these clubs have represented Australia in international gliding competitions.

Notable people

  • Victorian Cross recipient Rupert Vance Moon
    Rupert Vance Moon
    Rupert Vance "Mick" Moon VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....

  • Labour activist Reginald Patrick Heagney (1858–1922)
  • Factory inspector Margaret Gardiner Cuthbertson (1864–1944)
  • Physicist and professor Sir Kerr Grant
    Kerr Grant
    Professor Emeritus Sir Kerr Grant was an Australian physicist and a significant figure in higher education administration in South Australia in the first half of the twentieth century....

     (1878–1967)
  • Victorian Premier
    Premiers of Victoria
    The Premier of Victoria is the leader of the government in the Australian state of Victoria. The Premier is appointed by the Governor of Victoria, and is the leader of the political party able to secure a majority in the Legislative Assembly....

     from 1927–1928 and 1929–1932, Edmond Hogan
    Edmond Hogan
    Edmond John "Ned" Hogan , Australian politician, 30th Premier of Victoria, was born in Wallace, Victoria, where his Irish-born parents were small farmers...

     (1883–1964)
  • Pianist and composer Isabel Varney Desmond Peterson (1892–1967)
  • Carlton
    Carlton Football Club
    The Carlton Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the Australian Football League, and was one of the eight founding members of that competition in 1897...

     Australian rules football
    Australian rules football
    Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

    er Harry "Soapy" Vallence
    Harry Vallence
    Harry "Soapy" Vallence was a champion Australian rules footballer in the Victorian Football League and the Victorian Football Association...

     (1905–1991)
  • Author Frank Hardy
    Frank Hardy
    Francis Joseph Hardy, or Frank, was an Australian left-wing novelist and writer best known for his controversial novel Power Without Glory. He also was a political activist bringing the plight of Aboriginal Australians to international attention with the publication of his book, The Unlucky...

     (1917–1994) and his sister, actor and comedian Mary Hardy (1931–1985)
  • Dual Booker Prize winning author Peter Carey
  • Home to Dancing with the Stars
    Dancing with the Stars (Australian TV series)
    Dancing with the Stars is a Logie Award-winning, Australian light entertainment reality show airing on the Seven Network and filmed live from the HSV-7 studios in Melbourne...

     judge Helen Richey
    Helen Richey (dancer)
    Helen Richey is a former competitive ballroom and latin dancer and is currently a dance coach and judge. She is also currently appearing as a judge in the Australian television series Dancing with the Stars....

  • AFL star Doug Hawkins
    Doug Hawkins
    Doug Hawkins is a former Australian rules footballer in the VFL/AFL who made a name for himself in the media in his post-football career.-Early career:...

     (b.1960)
  • Celebrity chef Cath Claringbold
  • Nicholas 'Nic' Suban
    Nic Suban
    Nicholas 'Nick' Suban is an Australian rules football player in the Australian Football League, who plays for the Fremantle Football Club....

     AFL Footballer from Fremantle Football Club
    Fremantle Football Club
    The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed The Dockers, is an Australian rules football team which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in the port city of Fremantle at the mouth of the Swan River in Western Australia...

  • Radio Presenter Robert 'Bobby' Coburn

External links

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