| Bacchus Marsh Victoria |
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Main St, Bacchus Marsh |
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Bacchus Marsh
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| Population: | 13,261(urban centre);[1] 5,566 (suburb/locality) | ||||||
| Postcode: | 3340 | ||||||
| Elevation: | 118 m (387 ft) | ||||||
| Location: | |||||||
| LGA: | Shire of Moorabool | ||||||
| State District: | Melton | ||||||
| Federal Division: | Ballarat | ||||||
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Bacchus Marsh is an urban centre and suburban locality in Victoria, Australia located approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) west of Melbourne and 14 kilometres (9 mi) west of Melton. The population of the urban area (including suburbs) is estimated at over 17,000 people,[2] 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.
Officially still a town, it is traditionally a market garden area, producing a large amount of the area's fruits and vegetables. In recent times it has become a major commuter town of Melbourne, as a result of being one of the major towns in the Melbourne-Ballarat corridor just beyond the metropolitan urban growth boundary, the formerly sleepy town's population is growing rapidly due primarily to its affordable starter homes.[3][4]
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 and Werribee.
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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 corroborees 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.[5][6]
One of the first white men to reach the Bacchus Marsh valley was pastoralist Kenneth Scobie Clarke (c. 1806–79), a native of Sutherland in Scotland. Clarke was a manager for the Great Lake Company of Van Diemen’s Land and arrived in the Port Phillip District from George Town 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 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 near Darley, and lived there until early 1838. According to pastoralist George Russell, Clarke had acted on information obtained from Mr Aitken, an Edinburgh man, who was most put out when he discovered that Clarke had beaten him to the Pentland Hills run.[7]
In 1838, Englishman Captain William Henry Bacchus (1782–1849) and his son William Henry Bacchus junior (1820–87) also brought sheep from Tasmania 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, where he died in 1879.
As all land within 3 miles (5 km) of a squatter’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 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, Gisborne Road. By 1851, Henry Bacchus junior had sold his holdings in Bacchus Marsh and moved to Peerewur (or Perewerrh) run near Ballarat.[6][8][9]
A small stone bridge crossing Djerriwarrh Creek was built by Irish 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 township was originally known as Ballan, a Post Office opening under that name around July 1844 (Bacchus Marsh from July 1, 1850).[10] 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.[11] The railway came to Bacchus Marsh on 15 February 1887, and the through line to Ballarat was built in 1890.[8][11][12]'
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.
Beyond the central area, it has spread to suburban areas incorporating the former towns of Darley (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.
The main form of transport is the automobile. It is bypassed by the Western Freeway 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[13] to the south to increase speed limits and decrease travel times by road. A feature is the Avenue of Honour — several kilometres of elm trees planted along the old main road from Melbourne, to honour those who served in World War I.
The Bacchus Marsh station is on the Ballarat line. V/Line provides VLocity services to Melbourne (from 38 minutes) and Ballarat (from 34 minutes).
A bus service connects the station with the town centre and other residential areas.
Bacchus Marsh Airfield (located in Parwan to the south) provides for general aviation and the area is home to flying and gliding schools.
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 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.
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.
Schools in Bacchus Marsh include:
Adult & Vocational Education
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