Heywood, Victoria

Heywood
Victoria

War memorial at Heywood

Heywood

Coordinates

38°08′0″S 141°37′0″E / 38.13333°S 141.61667°ECoordinates: 38°08′0″S 141°37′0″E / 38.13333°S 141.61667°E

Population

1,287 (2006 census)

Postcode(s)

3304

Elevation

27 m (89 ft)

Location

357 km (222 mi) W of Melbourne
27 km (17 mi) N of Portland

Mean max temp	Mean min temp	Annual rainfall
19.2 °C ^{67 °F}	8.0 °C ^{46 °F}	804.6 mm ^{31.7 in}

Heywood /ˈheɪwʊd/ is a town 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 357 kilometres (222 mi) west of Melbourne at the intersection of the Princes and Henty Highways and 27 kilometres (17 mi) north of Portland. It is on the railway line to Portland, at the junction of the presently-unused branch to Mount Gambier, South Australia.

Prior to European settlement the area was occupied by the Gunditjmara Aborigines. 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 8 August 1857.

Heywood has won many Tidy Town awards.

At the 2006 census, Heywood had a population of 1,287.

The town has an Australian rules football team, the Heywood Lions, which until 2011 competed in the Western Border Football League. In 2012 it transferred to the lower grade South West District Football League. Which also created current Essendon midfielder Nathan Lovett-Murray. Golfers play at the course of the Heywood Golf Club on Golf Club Road.

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