Mortlake, Victoria
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Mortlake () is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia on the Hamilton Highway, 50km north-east of Warrnambool. It is in the Moyne Shire local government area and the federal Division of Wannon.
Self-proclaimed as the Olivine Capital of the world, it is a moderately small town with a population of 941. It is also known for its bluestone buildings, with several fine examples dating back to the 1850s visible from the Hamilton Highway.
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[edit] History
The word Mortlake means 'dead water'. The Mortlake area was probably first surveyed by Major Thomas Livingston Mitchell when he passed through the area in 1836-37. The town is based at the foot of a mount, as are many towns across the volcanic plains. The mount, Mt Shadwell, was named after his friend Major Thomas Henry Shadwell Clerke, and the nearby Hopkins river was named after Major John Paul Hopkins.
The first white settlers to arrive in Mortlake were probably David Fisher and his party in 1839, who set up a station which was left under the charge of Thomas Anderson. Establishment of Mortlake as a settlement occurred in the 1850s and 1860s.
Many of the original bluestone buildings include those in the Shaw St. Bluestone Precinct, such as The Mill, The Old Mortlake Courthouse, and The Old Shire Offices.
In the late 1870s, an area of swamp was drained and established as the Mortlake Botanical Gardens, which at its height covered nearly 50 acres. As a present to the township in 1988 (Australia's Bicentennial) a new lake was constructed by the State Government. This lake is now known as Tea Tree Lake.
[edit] Education and Industry
There are two schools in Mortlake, both co-educational. The largest school is the government school Mortlake P-12 College, with approximately 300 students ranging from Prep to Year 12. There is also a Catholic primary school, St. Colmans, with around 50 students.
Mortlake is located between two major agricultural districts: Hamilton to the north-west for the wool industry, and to the south-east, the dairy industry. Farms in the area exploit the rich volcanic soil for both farming practices.
One of the town's most famous industries, Clarke's Pies, which made pies for distribution all over Victoria, announced in January 2007 that the company had been sold to Patties Foods and that production would cease in early March 2007, leaving around 50 people out of work. Clarke's regularly featured in the top 10% of pie-makers in Australia.
[edit] Events and Culture
Mortlake plays host to the annual Australian Busking Championships. Normally held on the first Saturday of February until 2006 (where it was held in April), the festival attracts people in their thousands to displays of street-performers, professional buskers, stalls and kids' rides. The 2007 Mortlake Busker's Festival will be held on Saturday, 24th March.
Mortlake also fields two Australian Rules football teams - the Terang-Mortlake Football Club in the Hampden Football Netball League, and the Woorndoo-Mortlake Football Club in the Mininera & District Football League and Netball Association, both with associated netball teams. Mortlake originally fielded the Mortlake Football Club, who went into recess and merged with Derrinallum for the 1999 season to become the Western Lions. The Western Lions went into recess in 2000. The original Mortlake Football Club then amalgamated with the Terang Football Club in one league and the Woorndoo Football Club in another in 2001, to field the two separate teams.
Mortlake has both football and cricket facilities at the D.C. Farren Oval, which also contains 10 courts for netball and tennis.
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