Our Stories

The name Dean’s Marsh – originally with an apostrophe – is very old in settler Australian terms. It was first used as the name of large pastoral lease in what was then called the Port Phillip District of NSW in the early 1840s, nearly 160 years ago. But it was not until the 1870s that a settlement – a township – a village – called Deans Marsh began to form about three kilometres towards Winchelsea from where it is now is.

Deans Marsh has often been ‘on the move’, our town, our schools, our playing fields and our community hall have all been relocated by our community members.

Well before 1886 – 1887, when plans for a community hall were initiated by community members and building begun, organised sport was already being played in Deans Marsh. Keep reading…

Run by the Deans Marsh Athletics Club, Deans Marsh Sports Days were held most years in March but occasionally October. Sports Day activities in the early years included a road running race from Birregurra, horse events including trotting and a gymkhana, cycling, cricket and football matches. Over the years the wood/log chop, Guess the Sheep’s Weight, the Spinning Wheel and many other events were held on Sports Days: perhaps some of these could be revived at future Festivals. These events were held on what was to become the Deans Marsh Memorial Park but which in 1890 belonged to Mr Caleb Mountjoy. Keep reading…

Hall and Oval – the community slowly takes ownership

Between the 1900s and 1920s the Deans Marsh community, acting through the Trustees of the Hall all of whom were or had been community members, and its Committee members who were also locals, purchased the 20 acres at what is now the Memorial Park site from Mr Edgar Mountjoy. That sale process seems to have begun or at least been agreed to in principle well before 1912, but full payment was not made until 1920. As we have seen, this land was used by the community as a sports ground from at least the 1880s, well before the purchase process even began. Keep reading…

Events, decisions & challenges

In the 1940s and 1950s events are showcased, and important community decisions are taken; where the town adapts to the challenges of World War 2, where the community, after much soul-searching and decades of effort, makes the decision to give the Hall and Oval to the Winchelsea Shire Council, when SEC electricity arrives in town, and Deans Marsh has its first Back To. Keep reading…

Community Stories Continue

In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s the community runs a Miss Deans Marsh competition and one of the contestants ends up in the Miss Australia pageant, The Martians baseball team begins, the Hall committee buys more land – and then sells it, the Deans Marsh Community Cottage is created and Deans Marsh experiences the Ash Wednesday bush fires.

Throughout the 1960s and 70s as part of the annual Sports Day/Gymkhana, Miss Deans Marsh competitions were held. The 1963 winner Melva Armistead went on to compete in the Miss Australia contest. From the 1970s Miss Deans Marsh ran competitions in the lead up to Sports Day for both young women, and for the younger girls. Keep reading…

MOVING: Community Cottage chairperson Karen Rayner and co-ordinator Baiba Lowther are looking forward to moving in to the new centre after a year of working in “a container out the back” of the hall.

The Colac Herald 22 November 2000

Into the 1990s

Part 6 of Deans Marsh Community Stories, covers the 1990s, when the Community Cottage moved into a container, the Surf Coast Shire Council is created and Council begins to play a more active role in Deans Marsh, the Gymkhana becomes the Pioneer Festival, the Hall Curtain is re-imagined and the Hall gets an extensive extension.  Keep Reading…

Music @ the Marsh was the start of something big for the Marsh. It operated regularly – monthly nine or ten times a year from 2001 to 2005, and with great success. Mandy Baker, a key organiser, reports “We had busloads of people from all over the Surf Coast and Colac Otway – Forrest and Gellibrand and beyond”

The Noughties

Deans Marsh Community Stories, covering the 2000s – the Noughties as they were known. Music@the Marsh makes a big impression in the district and beyond, the Community Cottage gathers momentum, the former Deans Marsh Football Clubhouse gets restored and the Deans Marsh Dogs Trials begin. Keep Reading…

Community Plans

Part 8 of Deans Marsh Community Stories details the creation and building of our OMM community choir, a new Deans Marsh attitude to coal mining and fracking, the lobbying of Telstra for access to ADSL technology, and the beginning of our efforts to develop a comprehensive community plan for our district.

The Deans Marsh community planning process which became MaDCAP was initiated by us in response to the SCSC Rural Hinterland Strategy. Keep Reading…

Frank’s Concept Design for the Deans Marsh Hall