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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 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.
At the 2006 census, Heywood had a population of 2076.
Prior to European settlement the area was occupied by the Gunditjmara Aborigines.[2] 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 [3].
Heywood has won many Tidy Town awards.[citation needed]
The town has an Australian rules football teams competing in the Western Border Football League.
References
Coordinates: 38°08-S 141°37-E- / --38.133, 141.617
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