Deans Marsh is a town in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, located inland from Lorne. At the 2016 census, Deans Marsh had a population of 269. Deans Marsh is part of the Otway Harvest Trail, with the Pennyroyal Raspberry Farm and the Gentle Annie Berry Gardens nearby. There are three wineries in the area - Blakes Estate, Alt Road and Heroes Vineyard. The Store is located in the centre of the town, servicing locals and tourists with provisions, local produce, alcohol and a cafe. Th
Deans Marsh Community Cottage
is the local Neighbourhood House that provides the community with weekly health and wellbeing classes including Yoga & Pilates; skills workshops, a monthly Community Dinner and annual events including the Deans Marsh Festival. Also located in Deans Marsh is Yan Yan Gurt West, a sheep farm known for its 1880s woolshed and innovative practices in

regenerative agriculture Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration ...

and

agroforestry Agroforestry (also known as agro-sylviculture or forest farming) is a land use management system that integrates trees with crops or pasture. It combines agricultural and forestry technologies. As a polyculture system, an agroforestry system c ...

History

Deans Marsh Post Office opened on 3 November 1866. The Forrest railway line, which branched from the

Warrnambool line The Warrnambool line is a long-distance regional rail service in Victoria, Australia. Operated by V/Line, it is the state's fourth longest railway line at . The line runs from Southern Cross station in central Melbourne to Warrnambool statio ...

Birregurra Birregurra, is a town in Colac Otway Shire, Victoria, Australia, approximately south-west of Melbourne. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 942. The name comes from an Aboriginal word thought to mean "kangaroo camp". The town is on G ...

, was opened to Deans Marsh on 19 December 1889, and was extended to

Forrest Forrest may refer to: Places Australia *Forrest, Australian Capital Territory *Forrest, Victoria, a small rural township *Division of Forrest, a federal division of the Australian House of Representatives, in Western Australia *Electoral distric ...

on 5 June 1891. The line was closed on 4 March 1957. On Ash Wednesday 1983, a fire started at Deans Marsh, which spread rapidly, becoming a huge blaze which razed a considerable area of the Victoria's Surfcoast, destroying a large number of houses in Barwon Downs, Lorne, Fairhaven,

Aireys Inlet Aireys Inlet is a town located on the Great Ocean Road, southwest of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Aireys Inlet is located between Anglesea and Lorne, and joined with Fairhaven, Moggs Creek, and Eastern View to the west. Many surfers holi ...

, and Anglesea, and resulted in the deaths of three people.

Notable people

Deans Marsh is the birthplace of the renowned Wagnerian soprano

Marjorie Lawrence Marjorie Florence Lawrence Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (17 February 190713 January 1979) was an Australian dramatic soprano, particularly noted as an interpreter of Richard Wagner's operas. She was the first Metropolitan ...

(1907–1979).

References

Towns in Victoria (state) Surf Coast Shire {{BarwonSouthWest-geo-stub