Heywood, Victoria 4.5

Heywood 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 357km west of Melbourne at the intersection of the Princes and Henty Highways and 27km north of Portland. It is on the railway line to Portland, at the junction of the presently-unused branch to Mount Gambier, South Australia.HistoryPrior 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.DemographicsAt the 2006 census, Heywood had a population of 1,287.SportThe 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.