Terang

Overview

Terang is a national trust town of Historic Trees; its major streets are graced with mature Oak, Cottonwood and English Plane. Its main street offers wonderfully preserved colonial architecture and is presided over by the impressive Thomson Memorial Church. The fields around Terang are adorned with dry stone walls an aesthetic and practical solution to a landscape strewn with scoria and a large rabbit population. This district has the most expansive dry stone wall coverage outside of Ireland and the UK.

A dry lake bed that skirts the town is occupied by a golf course, pony club, cricket turf and a host of public recreational amenity. Bradshaw’s Hill to the west of town offers stately homes and an impressive autumn blaze of colour. Terang’s heritage listed grandstand and impressive racecourse complete the feel of well preserved colonial history.

History

The town was named after an aboriginal word thought to mean, ‘A twig with leaves’. In the 1840s the area was densely timbered and thick with tea-tree. So dense was the foliage that the store owner had to mark the route from his hut to his store.

The first slab hut was erected on the future town site in 1840 by Donald McNicol, an employee of Niel Black. The first sale of allotments occurred in 1855. Four years later there were four buildings within the town boundaries - two slab huts, a slab store and a carpenters shop. There were also one or two families living in tents.

A Post Office opened in 1859, either in the store or the carpenters shop. A rough wooden schoolroom and the town's first hostelry were erected in the same year. A regular coach service from Geelong to Warrnambool commenced in the 1860s stopping en route at Terang's Commercial hotel.

Places of interest

Heritage streetscapes

Thomson Memorial Church

Lake Keilambete

Dry stone walls
Dry lake bed
Bandstand,
Heritage listed arcade (Johnstone Court)

Racecourse
Trotting track
Disused hotel in a country setting

Accommodation

Terang features a range of comfortable accommodation including a motel, a hotel, a bed and breakfast and a motor inn.

For further information please visit www.visit12apostles.com.au or call 1300 137 255.

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