Horsham () is a regional city in the

Wimmera The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Aust ...

region of western

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia. Located on a bend in the Wimmera River, Horsham is approximately northwest of the state capital

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

. As of the 2021 Census, Horsham had a population of 20,429. It is the most populous city in Wimmera, and the main administrative centre for the Rural City of Horsham

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. It is the eleventh largest city in Victoria after Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Wodonga, Mildura, Shepparton, Warrnambool, Traralgon, and Wangaratta. An early settler James Monckton Darlot named the settlement after the town of

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

in his native England. It grew throughout the latter 19th and early 20th centuries as a centre of Western Victoria's wheat and wool industry, becoming the largest city in the Wimmera and Western Victoria by the early 1910s. Horsham was declared a city in 1949 and was named Australia's Tidiest Town in 2001 and Victoria's Tidiest Town in 2021.

History

Pre-colonisation

Recent archaeological research of rock shelters by

La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria a ...

in the Grampians found clear evidence of Aboriginal occupation 3–4,000 years ago, and the possibility of occupation up to 22,000 years ago. The rock shelters would have provided reliable access to water and a base to hunt

megafauna In terrestrial zoology, the megafauna (from Greek μέγας ''megas'' "large" and New Latin ''fauna'' "animal life") comprises the large or giant animals of an area, habitat, or geological period, extinct and/or extant. The most common thresho ...

on the plains of the Wimmera. Then "around the time of the arrival of the First Fleet, the Jardwa people were being forced south by either a Murray or northern Victorian tribe called the Wotjol". By the time of European exploration and settlement, the Jardwadjali language (a dialect of the Wemba-wemba language group common across most of Western Victoria)) was well established across the southern portion of the Wimmera region. Wimmera Aboriginal people hunted and traded widely, with stone for their tools coming up from the Grampians in the Ararat district. Relations between Europeans and Aboriginal people, as across much of Australia, were mixed, featuring both conflict and cooperation. One of the last Aboriginal missions in Victoria,

Ebenezer Mission Ebenezer Mission, also known as Wimmera mission, Hindmarsh mission and Dimboola mission, was a mission station for Aboriginal people established near Lake Hindmarsh in Victoria, Australia (near Jeparit) in 1859 by the Moravian Church on the lan ...

, was run successfully by the Moravian Order during the 1870s and 1880s, providing education and employment for the region's Indigenous people before it fell into decline in the 1890s and closed in 1902.

European exploration

Major Thomas Mitchell was the first European to pass through the area, naming the Wimmera River on 18 July 1836. After the explorer

Edward Eyre Edward John Eyre (5 August 181530 November 1901) was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and Governor of Jamaica. Early life Eyre was born in Whipsnade, Bedfordshire, shortly before his family moved to ...

passed through the region seeking an overland route between Port Philip and Adelaide, he reported to ''The Adelaide Gazette'' on 14 July 1838, that the region was "well-watered and affording good pasturage for stock."

Settlement

The squatters were the first European settlers in the Wimmera. William J Bracewell made the first claim, claiming 100,000 acres at Dooen on 10 August 1842. Although Captain Chris Lewis was the first resident of the Wimmera, settling at Ledcourt Station at Glenorchy in 1840. Charles Carter, a Squatter from

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

established his property "Brim Springs" nearby in 1845. The Wimmera region was made part of the Portland Bay district in 1843 and then became its own district in 1846. Land ownership was formalised in 1847, and the "Wimmera squatters wasted no time in securing their land cheaply as leasehold." George Langlands, a merchant from Melbourne was encouraged by James Darlot to move to the Wimmera region and open a store. Langlands reached the Wimmera and opened a general store in October 1849 on what is now the corner of Darlot and Hamilton Street. A Post Office had opened a year earlier on 1 July 1848. By 1851 the small village of Horsham had been established, consisting of an estimated 18 homes.

Town

The 1851 census counted 2,019 people living in the Wimmera region. The

Victorian gold rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capit ...

connected Horsham with the rest of the state, when it became a stop-over point for the

Gold Escort Gold Escorts were common across Australian goldfields, transporting mined and processed material from mines to banks and mints across the country. They were important in safely transporting gold, and were in most cases carried out by police ass ...

in 1851. Governance was formalised in 1858 when the Wimmera area was included in region's first electoral district, covering an area from the Murry River in the north, then south to the Wimmera River and then east to the Grampian Range. Then in 1862 the Horsham District Road Board was established, which later evolved into the Horsham Shire with the passing of the ''Local Government Act'' in 1864. The electric telegraph was connected in 1875 and the main railway from Melbourne reached Horsham in 1879. The Horsham Borough Council and the Shire of Wimmera operated the McKenzie Creek Tramway from the town to a stone quarry, approximately to the south. The horse tramway opened within the town in 1885 but had ceased operating by 1927. Special picnic trains operated from time to time conveying residents in open wagons along the McKenzie Creek Tramway. The 1870s saw significant economic and demographic growth in Horsham. During this period the foundry, the hospital, and the Horsham Agricultural Society were established, with the first Horsham show held in 1876.

Geoffrey Blainey Geoffrey Norman Blainey (born 11 March 1930) is an Australian historian, academic, best selling author and commentator. He is noted for having written authoritative texts on the economic and social history of Australia, including '' The Tyranny ...

, notes in his ''History of Victoria'', that the Victorian railway building boom of the 1870s enabled large-scale wheat production to begin in the Wimmera. He also describes a unique migration of German farmers, mostly Lutherans from South Australia, who travelled across east in covered-wagons along with their families and herds of cattle and then settled in the Wimmera district. Blainey writes that "nothing in Australian history so resembles the opening of the American west as this trek of farmers to the Victorian plains in the 1870s'." Farming production in the region dramatically increased, and wheat was established as the dominant agricultural crop. Although flooding along the Wimmera River was noted during the early period of the settlement, the first major flood was recorded in 1883 with the first flood causing serious damage occurring in 1889, when several buildings and the tramway were damaged. Several serious floods then occurred along the Wimmera River over the next five decades, in 1894, 1903, 1909, 1915 and then in 1923. The flood in 1923 was the third largest on record. In response to this history of flooding, the council successfully applied in 1946 for money from the State Parliamentary Public Works Committee for flood management. Men from Horsham fought in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. "By mid-August 1914 the first of Horsham's soldiers were given a rousing civic farewell at the Town Hall." However conscription "divided the community", with the Anti-Conscription League noting the high rate (6%) of conscription in the Horsham district. ''The Discharged Soldier Settlement Act'' of 1917 was created to give returning soldiers a head-start establishing farms in regional Australia. According to the act returning soldiers with farm-experience could apply for a block of land. By 1919 2,933 ex-servicemen had taken up the opportunity. The average size of the land grants were . When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

started, men from Horsham again volunteered. The war effort was enthusiastically embraced, for example in May 1940, when King George VI made a Commonwealth-wide call to prayer, 1,800 people attended a religious service at the town hall. Returning servicemen were again given the opportunity to take up land grants at the end of the war, with the average size of the blocks being between .

City

Horsham's population had reached 6,388 in 1947 and so it was declared a city on 24 May 1949. In 1950 Horsham celebrated its Centenary with a parade through the city. But then tragedy struck on 24 February 1951, when a train and bus collided at a level crossing on Dimboola Road, resulting in 11 deaths. The Horsham Streetscape was dramatically remodelled in the 1960s when planning laws were changed and shopfront verandahs were removed from the Post Office, The Bull and Mouth, and The White Hart pubs. The Horsham City council installed the first parking meters on Firebrace Street in 1963. A major fire damaged the new State Public Office on McLachlan Street in 1971. In 1995, the Rural City of Horsham was formed through the amalgamation of the Horsham City, Wimmera and Arapiles Shires. Horsham was named Australia's Tidiest Town in 2001 and was also named Victoria's tidiest town in 2015. The Black Saturday bushfires of 2009 affected Horsham, with area burnt around the city's fringe including the golf club and eight homes destroyed in the Haven area. Horsham experienced significant flooding in successive years in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2011 Victorian floods High intensity rainfall between 12–14 January 2011 caused major flooding across much of the western and central parts of the Australian state of Victoria. Several follow-up heavy rainfall events including Tropical Low Yasi caused repeated ...

. During these events, the Wimmera reached 3.32 m and 4.71 m respectively. The 2011 event was particularly severe with the Wimmera River reaching a record peak; over 1,000 residents were evacuated as flood waters divided the city and damaged 600 houses pushing up to a metre of water into parts of the CBD.

Traditional ownership

The Victorian government has recognised the

Wotjobaluk The Wotjobaluk are an Aboriginal Australian people of the state of Victoria. They are closely related to the Wergaia people. Language R. H. Mathews supplied a brief analysis of the Wotjobaluk language (now known as Wergaia), describing what he ...

, Jaadwa, Jadawadjali,

Wergaia The Wergaia or Werrigia people are an Aboriginal Australian group in the Mallee and Wimmera regions of north-Western Victoria, made up of a number of clans. The people were also known as the Maligundidj (in the Wotjobaluk language) which mea ...

and Jupagik nations as the traditional owners for the Horsham area. These five nations are represented by the

Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation The Barengi Gadjin Land Council was formed in 2005 to represent the Wotjobaluk, Jardwadjali (also known as Jaadwa), Wergaia and Jupagalk peoples. The Council manages native title rights across Western Victoria in an area "roughly described ...

Population

According to the 2016 census of population, there were 16,250 people in Horsham. * 90.3% of people spoke only English at home. * 87.4% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 1.2% and India 0.7%. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.7% of the population. * The most common responses for religion were No Religion 30%, Catholic 17%, Uniting Church 15%, Anglican 11% and Lutheran 8%. CC-BY icon

Material was copied from this source, which is available under
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Geography

Wimmera River

The city of Horsham is situated on the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of the Wimmera River, south of the Dooen Swamp and north of the River's junction with McKenzie Creek. The Wimmera River rises in the western slopes of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

and then runs west towards Horsham before turning north at Quantong and heading north towards the

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

, but empties into

Lake Hindmarsh Lake Hindmarsh, an ephemeral lake located in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, Australia, is the state's largest natural freshwater lake. The nearest towns are Jeparit to the south and Rainbow to the north. After more than a decade of d ...

. The Wimmera River is dammed by a weir at the southern edge of the city. A recent study in December 2017, found that the Millennium drought decimated the

Platypus The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypus is the sole living representative or mono ...

population in the River leaving only a solitary colony south of the weir.

Climate

Horsham is classified as a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

: ''BSk'') similar to Stawell although with slightly less rainfall amounts. As such, although its latitude makes it on average a degree cooler than

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area h ...

, it can receive relatively more extremes of temperature.

Land use

Suburban expansion along River Road in Horsham, Victoria

Horsham's topography is flat, approximately above sea level. The central business district (CBD) is laid out in a

grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...

south of the train line and is characterised by wide streets and several roundabouts. Firebrace Street, running north–south through the middle of the CBD is one of Horsham's original "thoroughfares" (first surveyed in 1849) and is named after a soldier from the British Army, Major William Firebrace (1795-1856). Residential areas extend north of the train line, west towards Natimuk and south-west towards Haven and south-east across Burnt Creek. A light industrial area is located south of the Wimmera River. Due to the flat topography and floodplain clay, there are very few multi-story buildings. The five most prominent buildings in the city are the State Government Offices on McLachlan Street, the T&G clocktower on Firebrace Street, St John Anglican church on the Western Highway, the Horsham Cinema and Horsham Town Hall, both on Pynsent Street.

Mining

Due to Horsham's location in the

Murray Basin The Murray Basin is a Cenozoic sedimentary basin in south eastern Australia. The basin is only shallow, but extends into New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It takes its name from the Murray River which traverses the Basin from ...

, the area to the east and south of the city contain extensive deposits of Mineral Sands, primarily

ilmenite Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printing ...

zircon Zircon () is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates and is a source of the metal zirconium. Its chemical name is zirconium(IV) silicate, and its corresponding chemical formula is Zr SiO4. An empirical formula showing some of t ...

and

rutile Rutile is an oxide mineral composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2), the most common natural form of TiO2. Rarer polymorphs of TiO2 are known, including anatase, akaogiite, and brookite. Rutile has one of the highest refractive indices at visib ...

. Preliminary exploration was conducted in the 1980s at Drung, a locality east of Horsham. However, the Conservation Council of Australia opposed the exploration citing the long-term consequences of mining activity and the possibility of inadequate rehabilitation. In June 2018 new mining exploration leases for the Wimmera region were granted by the Victorian State Government.

Governance

In 1993 the Kennett Government passed the ''Local Government (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill'' which resulted in council amalgamations across Victoria. So in 1995 the City of Horsham merged with the Wimmera and Arapiles shires to form th
Horsham Rural City Council
making Horsham the

seat of local government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...

. The current Mayor of Horsham is Robyn Guilline. In the

Legislative Assembly of Victoria The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

Horsham is part of the

Electoral district of Lowan The electoral district of Lowan is a rural Victorian Legislative Assembly (Lower House) electoral district of the Victorian Parliament. It is located within the Western Victoria Region of the Legislative Council. It was initially created by the ...

and is currently represented by

Emma Kealy Emma Jayne Kealy (born 29 May 1977) is an Australian politician. She has been a National Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since November 2014, representing the Legislative Assembly seat of Lowan. Kealy was born and raised in ...

. For the

Legislative Council of Victoria The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative ...

Horsham is part of the

Western Victoria Region Western Victoria Region is one of the eight electoral regions of Victoria, Australia, which elects five members to the Victorian Legislative Council (also referred to as the upper house) by proportional representation. The region was created i ...

and is currently represented by

Jaala Pulford Jaala Pulford (born 14 February 1974) is a former Australian politician. She was a Labor Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council between 2006 and 2022, representing the Western Victoria Region. Pulford was Minister for Agriculture, ...

, Simon Ramsay, Gayle Tierney, Josh Morris and

James Purcell James Purcell may refer to: * James Purcell (actor), American actor and filmmaker * James Purcell (businessman), Australian businessman * James Purcell (mountain man), American mountain man of the 19th century * James Purcell (politician) Ja ...

. In the Federal Parliament of Australia the city is represented in the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of ...

by the

Division of Mallee The Division of Mallee is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the far north-west of the state, adjoining the border with South Australia in the west, and the Murray River (which forms the border with New ...

. Currently held by

Anne Webster Anne Elizabeth Webster (née Smithers; born 19 May 1959) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2019 federal election. She is a member of the National Party and represents the Division of M ...

and until the 2019 Federal Election was considered a very safe National party seat. The Horsham Police station on Roberts Ave, along with ordinary policing duties also handles traffic, firearm registration and crime investigation. Next to the Police station is the Horsham Magistrates' Court.

Culture

The Horsham Botanic Gardens, managed by the Horsham Rural City Council, are located between the Horsham City Oval and Horsham Caravan Park and were designed by

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

William Guilfoyle. Sawyer park alongside the Wimmera River contains a sound shell and hosts the ANZAC day dawn service, Carols by Candlelight and Australia Day events.

Arts

The Horsham Town Hall, rebuilt and enlarged in February 2016, is the city's main performing arts venue, attracting a wide range of national and international acts. It is operated by the Horsham Rural City Council also contains the Horsham Regional Art Gallery. The Wesley Performing Arts Centre, once the Wesley Church, was, until 2018, a second performance venue. However, it was closed indefinitely in June 2018 due to safety concerns. The Horsham Arts Council, formed in 1972 and based in Old Hamilton Road, regularly stages musicals. Horsham also hosts the annua
Art is...festival
some aspects of the biennial Nati Frinj Festival and Awakenings (Australia's only regional disability arts festival). Centre Cinemas manage a movie theatre on Pynsent St.

Music

Horsham has community bands such as the Horsham City Brass Band and the Horsham Pipe Band with many towns surrounding the city having their own community bands. Some of the Horsham pubs host live music and the city hosts both the annual Kannamroo festival and Horsham Country Music Festival.

Media

Horsham is served by three newspapers, the
Wimmera Mail-Times
' (a tri-weekly paid publication), the
Weekly Advertiser
(a free weekly)'' and the
Horsham Times
(a weekly paid publication)''. Printed news from the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) Wimmera is available on the ABC Wimmera Facebook page and is also broadcast via its local radio station. Other available national radio stations in Horsham are

ABC Classic ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. I ...

Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors a ...

ABC NewsRadio ABC NewsRadio, since 2017 broadcast under the ABC News brand and for a short time known as ABC News on Radio, is a 24-hour news radio service broadcast by the Australian public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). ABC ...

and

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

. 3WM 1089 AM and MIXXFM 101.3 are the local commercial stations and Triple H 96.5 FM is the local community radio station. Horsham is also served by local transmission of free-to-air television networks ABC,

Prime7 Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Ca ...

(Seven),

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for ...

(10), WIN (Nine) and SBS.

Religions and faiths

60% of people in Horsham identified with Christianity at the 2016 national census (which is higher than the national average) although nearly 30% identified as "no religious affiliation", which reflected the national average. The Horsham Ministers Association established the Christian Emergency Food Centre on Firebrace Street and help organise the annual Carols by Candlelight. The Lutheran Church oversees a local school (Holy Trinity Lutheran College) and nursing home (Sunnyside Nursing Home) and maintains a Christian bookshop, Jacob's Well. A

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

mosque was built on Stawell Road in October 2014.

Service clubs and other clubs (non-sporting)

The combined local services club host a free community breakfast on

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

. Local clubs include the Apex Club of Horsham, the City of Horsham

Lions Club The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, by Melvin Jones. It is now headquarter ...

, the Horsham Combined Probus Club, the Horsham East Ladies Probus Club, Horsham Senior Citizens, the Lions Club of Horsham, the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

of Horsham and the Rotary Club of Horsham East.

Sport

Horsham Australia Mechanics Institute building

Sport and fitness are popular pastimes in Horsham. The Horsham Aquatic Centre contains an indoor and outdoor pool, gym, kiosk and child care centre, owned by the Horsham Rural City Council and operated by the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

. Horsham has an outdoor

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

, indoor squash centre and basketball stadium. The City Oval located between Baker St and Hocking St next to the botanical gardens hosts a variety of football games and cricket matches. Cricket and tennis are the most popular summer sports in Horsham. The Wimmera Regional Sports Assembly Inc. is a volunteer based organisation established to support the growth, development and promotion of sport and recreation at the grass roots level. The assembly provides a vital link between local clubs and state and national bodies. It has formed a solid partnership with Sport and Recreation Victoria and other strategic partners (including VicHealth, Local Government, and health agencies) to provide a quality service for Wimmera sports clubs and associations which encompasses the needs and priorities of the region. The assembly office is at 22B Pynsent Street in Horsham and staff can readily provide information and support on a variety of sports related topics. Staff have a wide range of both experience and knowledge and would be pleased to assist wherever possible. Local sporting organisations include the Horsham Angling Club, the Horsham Badminton Association, the Horsham Hornets Basketball Club, Wimmera Kart Racing Club, Natimuk and District Gymnastics Club, Horsham

Little Athletics Little Athletics is an Australian activity program that involves modified athletics events for children aged 3 to 16 in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory); 3 ...

Centre, Horsham Motor Sports Club, the Horsham Panthers Rugby League Club, the Horsham Volleyball Association, the Horsham Golf Club and the Drung Golf Club. Other sports active in Horsham include: carpet bowls, hunting, karate, lawn bowls, netball, pistol shooting, rowing, smallbore rifle shooting, soccer, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis, and water skiing.

Australian rules football

Former Sydney Swans footballer and 2014 Australian of the Year

Adam Goodes Adam Roy Goodes (born 8 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Goodes holds an elite place in VFL/AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, d ...

grew up in Horsham and the town currently has four players representing the town in the Australian Football League (AFL). The two local football and netball leagues are overseen by AFL Wimmera Mallee.

=Wimmera Football & Netball League

= The town has two Australian rules football teams competing in the

Wimmera Football League The Wimmera Football League is a major Australian rules country league based in Western Victoria, with clubs located in towns in the Wimmera region: the regional centres along the Western Highway from Ararat to Nhill as well as Minyip-Murto ...

* Horsham Demons * Horsham Saints

= Horsham & District Football & Netball League

Clay target shooting

The Central Wimmera Clay Target Club holds

clay target shooting Clay pigeon shooting, also known as clay target shooting, is a shooting sport involving shooting a firearm at special flying targets known as clay pigeons, or clay targets. The terminology commonly used by clay shooters often relates to tim ...

competitions twice a month at 1 pm on the 1st Sunday & 2nd Saturday of each month. Practice shoots for newcomers are held 1st & 3rd Fridays each month.

Cricket

The Horsham Cricket Association has four clubs based in the Horsham. *Homers Cricket Club *Horsham Saints Cricket Club *Colts Cricket Club *Jung Tigers Cricket Club

= Wimmera Girls Cricket League

= The Wimmera Girls Cricket League (WGCL) inaugural season was held in early 2020. Season 2020/21 provided a competition aimed at girls aged 10 to 17 years.

Flying and gliding

The Horsham Flying Club is the home of sport aviation and gliding in the Wimmera Mallee region of Victoria. The club was formed in 1963 as Wimmera Soaring Club and later amalgamated with Wimmera Sports Aircraft Association. The city also hosts the longest-running gliding competition in Australia, Horsham Week, held yearly in the first week of February since 1967.

Greyhound racing

Horsham Greyhound Racing Club has held regular

greyhound racing Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing (normally around an oval track) and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Tr ...

meetings at the Horsham Showgrounds since 17 December 1973.

Harness racing (''trots'')

Horsham Harness Racing Club conducts regular meetings at its racetrack in the city.

Thoroughbred horse racing (''gallops'')

The Wimmera Racing Club, schedules around five race meetings a year in Horsham, including the Horsham Cup meeting in October.

Infrastructure

The city provides community and family support services.

Education

The Workingmen's College was open from 1891 to 1922. The original buildings of the Workingmen's College became Horsham High School in 1912, the high school moved to the current site on Dimboola Road in 1926. Public primary school education was conducted at the Central School until 1955 when another primary campus was added in the west. A third primary school was added in 1965 in the north. A Roman Catholic primary school was established in 1883 and a Lutheran primary school was established in 1978. Technical education was re-introduced as part of the Horsham High School curriculum in 1959 and the nearby Longernong Agricultural College opened in 1889 at Dooen.

Kindergarten

Non-integrated three and four year old kindergarten programs in Horsham are managed by Emerge Early Years Services. Integrated day care and kindergarten programs are managed by the individual facilities.

Primary education

* Holy Trinity Lutheran College: independent, Lutheran, co-educational, years prep to 12. Founded in 1978 and governed by a council elected from the congregation of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. * Horsham Primary School (298 and Rasmussan campuses): public, co-educational, prep to 6. * Horsham West and Haven Primary School: public, co-educational, prep to 6. * Saints Michael and John's Primary School: independent, Roman Catholic, co-educational, prep to 6.

Secondary education

* Holy Trinity Lutheran College: independent, Lutheran, co-educational, prep to 12. Founded in 1978 and governed by a council elected from the congregation of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church * Horsham College: public, co-educational, 7 to 12. * St Brigid's College: independent, Roman Catholic, co-educational, 7 to 12.

Tertiary and trades education

*Federation University: Wimmera campus, tertiary education and trade courses. *Longernong Agricultural College: often abbreviated to "Longy", agricultural tertiary college focusing on agronomy, rural merchandise management, wool classing, agricultural education, farm management, research and livestock sales.

Transport

Road transport Road transport or road transportation is a type of transport using roads. Transport on roads can be roughly grouped into the transportation of goods and transportation of people. In many countries licensing requirements and safety regulations ...

and the

motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as motorized vehicle or automotive vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on rails (such as trains or trams) and is used for the transportation of people or cargo. The ...

is the main form of transport. The Western Highway (connecting Melbourne to Adelaide) is the most significant road system in the city. It connects with the

Henty Highway Henty Highway is a rural highway in western Victoria, Australia. It is primarily a north-south route, consisting of a mix of dual-lane, single-carriageway country highway and four-lane arterial road within some of the larger towns along the ro ...

(A200) (from Portland north towards

) cross paths with the

Wimmera Highway Wimmera Highway is a 345 kilometre highway that connects the towns of Marong, Victoria and Naracoorte, South Australia, through the major junctions of Sunraysia Highway, Henty Highway and Western Highway. History The passing of the ''Highwa ...

on the eastern side of the central business district, The Western Highway will eventually be diverted around the city in a bypass. The Wimmera-Henty Highway (B200) is the main northern road, connecting Horsham to

Warracknabeal Warracknabeal ( ) is a wheatbelt town in the Australian state of Victoria. Situated on the banks of the Yarriambiack Creek, 330 km north-west of Melbourne, it is the business and services centre of the northern Wimmera and southern Mallee ...

and the Sunraysia Highway (B220) to

as well as the Wimmera Highway (B240) and St Arnaud. The Wimmera Highway continues west to

Naracoorte, South Australia Naracoorte is a town in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia, approximately 336 kilometres south-east of Adelaide and 100 kilometres north of Mount Gambier on the Riddoch Highway (A66). History Before the colonisation of South Australi ...

. Rail transport includes both

passenger rail Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

and

freight rail Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

. The city's only passenger station is

Horsham railway station Horsham railway station serves the town of Horsham in West Sussex, England. It is down the line from , measured via , on the Arun Valley Line and the Sutton & Mole Valley Lines, and train services are provided by Southern. Services on the Sutt ...

which is on the Melbourne–Adelaide railway is located approximately four blocks (1 km) north of the CBD. ''

The Overland ''The Overland'' is an Australian passenger train service between the state capitals of Melbourne and Adelaide, a distance of 828 km (515 mi). It first ran in 1887 as the ''Adelaide Express'', known by South Australians as the ''Melb ...

'' operates between the state capitals and stops in Horsham twice a week in each direction for passengers. While there is no direct connection to the Victorian broad gauge rail network, there are plans to increase the frequency of rail services between Ararat and Melbourne, and eventually improve the rail services to Horsham itself. Interstate freight trains regularly travel through Horsham to the Wimmera Intermodal Freight Terminal located nearby in Dooen.

V/Line V/Line is a statutory authority that operates regional passenger train and coach services in Victoria, Australia. It provides passenger train services on five commuter lines and eight long-distance routes from its major hub at Southern Cross ...

operates a

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

service into Horsham from Ararat and onward to Nhill. Melbourne bound passengers then board a train in Ararat to continue their journey. A local company the 'Wimmera Roadways and Horsham Bus Lines' provide 6 routes through the city. Along with the bus service two taxi companies operate from a depot at 30 Wawunna Road. The Horsham Airport is located to the north of the city and hosts a variety of private

aviation companies Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot a ...

as well a depot for the Royal Flying Doctors Service.

Utilities

Water and waste-water services are provided by Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water (GWMWater), "a government-owned statutory corporation established in 2004" who manage water services for most north-western Victoria. Horsham's primary water source is Lake Wartook, with a bore field at Laharum providing a supplementary supply source for the town when water levels are low. Electricity is provided to Horsham via the Horsham Terminal Station, operated by Power Corp Australia and located to the east of the city on the corner of Riverside East and Horsham-Lubeck Roads.

Health and healthcare services

The Wimmera Base Hospital on Baillie street has been managed by Wimmera Health Care Group since 1995 and was amalgamated with Ballarat Health Services, Stawell Regional Health and Edenhope and District Memorial Hospital to form Grampians Health in 2021. The hospital is also a regional training facility, and along with ordinary hospital operations provides a range of outpatient and community health support services. Horsham also contains a number of nursing homes, several pharmacies, two medical surgeries, two dental surgeries and various allied health services. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports the median age of Horsham is older than the national average with just over 20% of the population over 65 years old.

Economy

Healthcare, education and government related are the main employers in Horsham, although the largest number of businesses in 2017 were agriculture, forestry and fishing related, and the median income is $40,245 (2013). Th
Wimmera Development Association
is based in Horsham, they gather economic data, lobby for improved infrastructure, organise events and encourage connections between local businesses and civic leaders. Th
Victorian Regional Development Association
is represented locally by th
Wimmera Southern Mallee Regional Partnership

Commercial

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, most businesses in Horsham have fewer than four employees, with only 35 businesses employing 20 or more people. There are over a hundred retail outlets in Horsham of varying sizes, many independent, but some part of larger national or international chains, such as Coles,

Woolworths Woolworth, Woolworth's, or Woolworths may refer to: Businesses * F. W. Woolworth Company, the original US-based chain of "five and dime" (5¢ and 10¢) stores * Woolworths Group (United Kingdom), former operator of the Woolworths chain of shop ...

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

Bunnings Warehouse Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Perth, Wester ...

Harvey Norman Harvey Norman is a large Australian-based, multi-national retailer of furniture, bedding, computers, communications and consumer electrical products. It mainly operates as a franchise, with the main brand and all company-operated stores owned ...

The Reject Shop The Reject Shop Limited () is an Australian discount variety store chain selling a range of goods such as food, snacks, gift cards and party, health and beauty aids, cleaning supplies, storage, kitchenware, homewares and seasonal items in 356 st ...

Best & Less Best & Less is an Australian retailer of clothing and household linens. As of 2020, Best&Less has 246 stores as well as an online platform. History Best & Less was founded by Berel Ginges in January 1965, by occupying part of the ground floor o ...

, KFC,

Hungry Jack's Hungry Jack's Pty Ltd. is an Australian fast food franchise of the Burger King Corporation. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Competitive Foods Australia, a privately held company owned by Jack Cowin. Hungry Jack's owns and operates or sub- ...

and

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

Foundry

The Horsham Foundry formerly operated by CMI Horsham was closed in July 2012.

Grains Innovation Park

The Horsham Grains Innovation Centre was established in 1962 to breed wheat varieties for Victoria. The scope of research has become "a world leader in science and innovation...for barley, canola, field peas, lentils and chickpeas.” Today the complex also hosts the Australian Grains Genebank, the Horsham Incident Control Centre service and depots for Agriculture Victoria,

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) was a government department in Victoria, Australia. Commencing operation in January 2015, the DELWP was created in the aftermath of the 2014 state election, with Premier Daniel Andr ...

and the Victorian Fisheries Authority.

Renewable energy

The

Murra Warra Wind Farm __NOTOC__ The Murra Warra Wind Farm will be one of Australia's largest wind farms. Located on the plains of north-western Victoria, approximately north of the city of Horsham, it will consist of 99 wind turbines with a maximum tip height ...

project is located north of Horsham at Murra Warra, a 99-turbine producing 434 megawatts of electricity is being constructed with stage 1 completed in mid-2019.

Renewable Energy Systems The RES Group (Renewable Energy Systems) is a global renewable energy company which has been active in the renewable energy industry for over 30 years. Its core business is to develop, construct and operate large-scale, grid-connected renewable ...

and

Macquarie Capital Macquarie Group Limited () is an Australian global financial services group. Headquartered and listed in Australia (), Macquarie employs more than 17,000 staff in 33 markets, is the world's largest infrastructure asset manager and Australia's ...

are providing the $750 million equity for the project.

Tourism

The city is a significant stop-over point between Adelaide and Melbourne and contains nearly a dozen motels. West of Horsham is Mount Arapiles, south of Horsham are the Grampians National Park, northwest is the Little Desert National Park and north of Horsham the silo art, Silo Art Trail begins in Brim, Victoria, Brim. The Wimmera River and its annual Fishing Competition are notable features of the city.

Wheat and wool

By 1910 Horsham sat on the boundary between Victoria's primary wool-producing area, the south-west and the state's second-largest wheat-producing area the Wimmera. Wheat is one of Australia's largest agricultural exports with the Wimmera and Mallee regions producing between 10 and 40 tonnes of wheat per square kilometer. Farmers around Horsham often rotate wheat with canola and legumes.

Notable people

*Aaron Bruce, former NBL and NCAA basketballer for Baylor University *Jannik Blair a.k.a. The Bizzness, current Australia men's national wheelchair basketball team 'The Rollers' Paralympic Silver medallist, 2014 world gold *

, former Australian Football League player and Australian of the Year who grew up and did his schooling in Horsham *Craig Sholl, former AFL footballer *Brad Sholl, former AFL footballer *Shane Heard, former AFL footballer *Adrian Hickmott, former AFL footballer *Doug Wade, former VFL footballer *Jake Lloyd (footballer), Jake Lloyd, AFL footballer *Portia de Rossi (born Amanda Rogers), actress, married to Ellen DeGeneres *Jen Storer, children's author *Shaun Bruce, NBL basketballer, currently Brisbane Bullets, formerly Cairns Taipans *Mitch Creek, NBL/NBA basketballer *Jarrod Berry, AFL footballer *Tom Berry (Australian footballer), Tom Berry, AFL footballer *Darcy Tucker (footballer), Darcy Tucker, AFL footballer *Sebastian Ross, AFL footballer *Chris Crewther, former federal member of Parliament for Dunkley, chair of Foreign Affairs & Aid Sub-Committee *Pauline Toner (1935-1989), first female Victorian Cabinet minister *Patrick Carnegie Simpson (1865-1947), missionary, professor, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of England (1928) *Brett Goodes former AFL footballer for Western Bulldogs *Bill Pyers, Australian Racing Hall of Fame jockey *Jason Niblett, cyclist, Commonwealth Wealth Games gold medallist

References

External links

Horsham Regional Art Gallery Artabase page
{{authority control Cities in Victoria (Australia) Towns in Wimmera Southern Mallee Rural City of Horsham Wimmera