Revealed, unearthed and uncovered highlights for Heritage Festival
Published on 08 April 2025
Five quite different events will be hosted in Glenelg Shire as part of this year’s Australian Heritage Festival.
Glenelg Shire Council is hosting three of the events, with St John’s Anglican Church in Heywood and Warrnambool City Council organising the others.
They are part of the wider festival, an initiative of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria).
Revealed – stories from the collection
Exhibition
17 April – 17 May
Monday – Sunday (closed Tuesdays) 10am-noon 1pm-2pm
History House, Portland
Council’s Collections Team have been auditing, researching and cataloguing the Glenelg Shire Cultural Collection and have discovered some wonderful objects which have not been on display for a long time.
Many of the objects have links to interesting people or events from the Shire’s history and we invite you to explore some of these stories in our new exhibition – Revealed.
Some of the objects include:
- A leather postal bag used to transport money and wages along the Portland – Casterton Railway.
- Brass survey mark used in the surveying of Victoria.
- A beautiful watercolour by Gerhard Inkamala – nephew of Albert Namatjira.
- A bone China tea mug belonging to William Rosevear – member of the Portland Lifeboat crew who rescued survivors from the wreck of the Admella.
Uncovered!
Talk
17 May 10.30am – 11am
History House, Portland
Come along to History House and listen to the researchers from the Portland Family History Group tell you about some of the more quirky and interesting research projects that they have worked on.
Bluestone Tour
Tour
26 April 2.30pm – 3.30pm
Corner of Bentinck and Cliff Streets, Portland
Join us for a walking tour of the earliest collection of pre-separation (Victoria and New South Wales) public buildings in Victoria.
This talk will cover Portland’s early administrative buildings – the Court House, History House and the Customs House.
Unearthed Then and Now
Event run by St John’s Anglican Church, Heywood
24,25,26,30 April
1, 2 May
10am – 4pm
You are invited to come and explore St John’s Anglican Church – believed to be the smallest church architect Terry Peale ever designed.
Find out about more than 150 years of architectural history.
Lighthouse Keepers of the Great South West
Warrnambool City Council – Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum
10,11 May
Cape Nelson and Whaler’s Bluff (Portland) lighthouses, Portland Battery and Warrnambool and Port Fairy lighthouses
Visit four historic lighthouses along Victoria’s southwest coast and uncover little known stories of lighthouse keepers with tales of bravery, isolation, danger, and loss.
Pay tribute to these unsung heroes with a commemorative cannon firing at each site.
Four historic lighthouses, four unique locations along Victoria’s South West coast, and 150 years of lighthouse keepers’ stories waiting to be uncovered.
Throughout the weekend, explore the heritage-listed lighthouses of Cape Nelson, Portland, Port Fairy, and Warrnambool, where local historians will reveal little-known tales of those who safeguarded mariners along this perilous coastline.
Discover the challenges of isolation, the struggles of raising families in remote outposts, the demands and dangers of the job, and the courageous rescues these lighthouse keepers assisted with.
At each site, experience the dramatic firing of a cannon by the Warrnambool Garrison in tribute to the bravery and dedication of lighthouse keepers past.
Times
- 10 May 2025 10am – 11am | Cape Nelson Lightstation | Cape Nelson Road, Portland West, Victoria, 3305 | Presentation from Gordon Stokes and cannon firing.
- 10 May 2025, 12pm – 1pm | Whaler's Bluff Lighthouse | Lighthouse Ave, Portland, Victoria, 3305 | Presentation from Mike Risk.
- 10 May 2025, 2pm – 2:30pm | Portland Battery | 20 Victoria Parade, Portland, Victoria, 3305 | Cannon Firing.
- 11 May 2025, 10am – 11:30pm | Port Fairy Lighthouse | Griffiths Island, Port Fairy, Victoria, 3284 | Presentation from Marten Syme and cannon firing (includes 15 minutes walk time to and from lighthouse from carpark).
- 11 May 2025, 2pm – 3pm | Warrnambool Lighthouse Precinct | Flagstaff Hill, 89 Merri Street, Warrnambool, Victoria, 3280 | Presentation from John Harrison and cannon firing.
These events are part of the Australian Heritage Festival - Australia’s largest annual community-driven heritage festival run in Victoria by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), the state’s premier heritage advocacy organisation.
This year’s festival is supported by the Heritage Council Victoria and the Victorian Goldfields World Heritage Bid.