VICPort & river
Barwon Heads
A fishing spot at the river mouth that a bridge turned into a resort.
1875Settlement begins at the river mouth
WHAT STARTED IT
Barwon Heads sits on the west bank where the Barwon River meets the sea, 18 km from Geelong. Settlement began there in 1875, two decades after the Ocean Grove side, as a place for boating and fishing, with waterfowl in the Lake Connewarre swamps upstream.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
A school opened in 1885 and a golf links in 1907, and Geelong families made the foreshore their summer camp. The long timber bridge of 1927, built under the state’s tourist roads program, joined it to Ocean Grove and brought motorists in numbers.
TURNING POINTS
1875Settlement begins on the west side of the Barwon mouth.
1907The golf links are laid out behind the ocean beach.
1927The 308-metre timber bridge over the Barwon estuary is built as part of the Country Roads Board tourist roads program.
1936Visitors from Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat and beyond fill Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove for the summer.
1998Filming of SeaChange begins, with Barwon Heads standing in for Pearl Bay.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A coastal town of about 4,350 people in 2021, close enough to Geelong to be an outer suburb. The ABC series SeaChange, filmed here from 1998, drew national attention and new residents.