Fyansford is a township on the western edge of Geelong, Victoria, Australia, named after Captain Foster Fyans who came to Geelong as a Police magistrate in October, 1837. It is located at the junction of the Barwon and Moorabool rivers. At the 2016 census, Fyansford had a population of 196.

Industry

The area was once a centre for Geelong industry. In 1845 the first flour mill was erected by William Henry Collins on the banks of the Barwon. By 1859 the population was sufficient to justify a Post Office which opened on 1 February 1859 (closing in 1978). The Barwon Paper Mill opened at nearby Buckley Falls in 1876. and in 1926 the narrow gauge Fyansford Cement Works Railway was opened to serve a new quarry, and the works themselves expanded across Hyland Street, which became the main production site, Geelong Cement, in later years.

Transport

The Hamilton Highway runs through the town. The first river crossing at Fyansford was a ford, with the first wooden bridge built downriver by the Corio and Bannockburn Shire councils in 1854, and was tolled until 1877. It was in poor condition by 1898, with load restrictions being put into place. A new bridge was built nearby in 1900 by John Monash and J. T. N. Anderson, the three-arch bridge being the largest Monier reinforced concrete bridge in the world at the time. In 1970 a new bridge was built on the site of the old wooden bridge to cater for heavier traffic on the Hamilton Highway, the 1900 bridge retained for pedestrians.

High Street (now Hyland Street) was one of the first sealed roads in the area in 1933, the road being relaid in concrete in 1937.

  • 425-465 Hamilton Hwy, Frogmore
  • 67 Hyland St, Fyansford Hotel
  • Hamilton Hwy, Old Fyansford Bridge
  • 150-220 McCurdy Rd, Old Geelong Orphanage Asylum and Common School
  • 20-50 Hamilton Hwy, Old Swan Inn

Census populations

  • 1861 - 227
  • 1901 - 134
  • 1933 - 189
  • 1961 - 238

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Image:Fyansford_Geelong1908.jpg|Fyansford, 1908

Image:FyansfordSchool1880s.jpg|Fyansford State School, built during the 1880s

Image:Fyansford_Geelongbridge.jpg|Fyansford Bridge

Image:Buckleys-falls-geelong.jpg|Upstream from Buckley Falls on the Barwon River

Image:Fyansford-bridge-1.jpg|1900 Monier arch bridge over the Moorabool River

Image:Fyansford-bridge-2.jpg|Bridge over the Moorabool

Image:Fyansford-bridge-3.jpg|Plaque marking opening of the 1900 bridge

Image:Fyansford-history-plaque.jpg|Plaque detailing the history of the township, placed in 1988 for the Australian Bicentenary

Image:Cement-works-remains-1-fyansford-victoria.jpg|Remains of the Fyansford cement works

Image:Cement-works-remains-2-fyansford-victoria.jpg|Remains of the Fyansford cement works

Image:Geelong Bypass, Fyansford, 2007.jpg|Geelong Bypass crossing of the Moorabool River under construction

</gallery>

References

  • Rail Geelong: Fyansford Cement Works and railway line