Barwon Heads

Barwon Heads is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia.

Barwon Heads is a coastal township on the Bellarine Peninsula, near Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the west bank of the mouth of the Barwon River below Lake Connewarre, while it is bounded to the west by farmland, golf courses and the ephemeral saline wetland Murtnaghurt Lagoon. At the 2016 census, Barwon Heads had a population of 3,875.

Barwon Heads lies within the territory of the Waddawurrung Balug clan, of the Wathaurong people. Its traditional name is Koornoo. Barwon derives from the Wathaurong word Barrwang or Baarwon meaning magpie. The river and upstream lakes (Lake Connewarre and Reedy Lake) were frequented by Aboriginal hunters and fishermen, including William Buckley who lived with the Wathaurong for 32 years.When settlers arrived to Port Phillip in June 1835 a camp was established at Indented Head. Port Phillip Association surveyor John Helder Wedge explored the Bellarine Peninsula, including the Barwon and its lakes in August 1835.

It is unknown when settlers first took up land at Barwon Heads, but by the 1870s a township was formed, with a Post Office opening in the area on 15 December 1889 (renamed Connewarre East in 1890 when a new Barwon Heads PO opened in the township).Fishing was the mainstay of the town in its early years. In the 1920s and 1930s the town became a popular holiday resort and a number of the richer families of Melbourne built houses here. The summer period today still sees a large influx of holidaymakers to the town.

In 1959 the closing scenes of the film On the Beach based on a Nevil Shute novel about the end of the world were filmed in the town.

The Barwon Heads Golf Club clubhouse, located on Golf Links Road and dating from 1923–24, is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register. The former Barwon Heads Bridge is also listed on the Register; however, it was demolished in 2009.