An attractive resort town offering water sports, bushwalks along the Anglesea River.
Location: 110km south-west of Melbourne. Map
Origin of name: originally called Swampy Creek. The name was changed to Anglesea in about 1884, and is probably derived from the Welsh island of Anglesea.
Brief history: the region was settled in the 1830s by squatters attracted to the freshwater creek and the grazing land which lay behind the sand dunes. William Roadknight brought sheep across from Tasmania in 1836 and settled near Ceres Bridge, west of Geelong. William and his son Thomas pioneered a track to the Cape Otway Lightstation in 1846. Anglesea developed as a convenient stopover for the Cobb & Co. mail coaches which plied the southern coastline in the 1850s on unformed tracks.
Natural features: Anglesea River; Bass Strait; Eagle Rock Marine Sanctuary; Coogoorah Park bushland Reserve; Anglesea River; ocean beach; Ironbark Basin; Currawong Falls; Undersea volcanoes created the cliffs and off-shore stacks of Painkalac Creek which runs through the outskirts of Aireys Inlet and is surrounded by Angahook-Lorne State Park.
Built features: Open cut brown coal mine and power station near town.
Heritage features: Split Point Lighthouse (said to be haunted, 1891)