Heywood, Victoria

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Heywood
state = vic


caption =
lga = Shire of Glenelg
postcode = 3304
est =
pop = 2076 (2006)Census 2006 AUS | id = SSC25767 | name = Heywood (State Suburb) | accessdate = 2007-10-01 | quick = on]
elevation= 27
maxtemp = 19.2
mintemp = 8.0
rainfall = 804.6
stategov = South-West Coast
fedgov = Wannon
dist1 = 357
dir1 = W
location1= Melbourne
dist2 = 27
dir2 = N
location2= Portland

Heywood is a small service centre on the Fitzroy River in the Australian state of Victoria. It is situated at an elevation of 27 metres amidst rolling green hills in an agricultural, pastoral and timbercutting district. Heywood is convert|357|km|mi|0|lk=on west of Melbourne at the intersection of the Princes and Henty Highways and convert|27|km|mi|0|lk=on north of Portland. It is on the railway line to Portland, at the junction of the presently-unused branch to Mount Gambier, South Australia.

At the 2006 census, Heywood had a population of 2076.

Prior to European settlement the area was occupied by the Gunditjmara Aborigines. [ [http://www.dpc.vic.gov.au/domino/Web_Notes/newmedia.nsf/955cbeae7df9460dca256c8c00152d2b/bbc4cb8ac722069dca2571ff0002610c!OpenDocument MINISTER FOR ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS - "NEW ABORIGINAL GROUP TO ADVISE ON CULTURAL HERITAGE" - Friday, October 6, 2006] ] David Edgar built the Bush Tavern on the townsite in 1842 and a settlement emerged. Formerly known as Fitzroy Crossing it became known as Edgar's. The township was surveyed in 1852 by Lindsay Clarke who named it after Heywood, Wiltshire in England. The first town allotments were sold in 1854 and a Post Office opened on August 8, 1857 Citation| last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&country= | accessdate = 2008-04-11 ] . Heywood has won many Tidy Town awards. Fact|date=July 2008

The town has an Australian rules football teams competing in the Western Border Football League.

References

* Learmonth, Noel F. (1970). "Four Towns and a Survey." Hawthorn Press: Melbourne