Bannockburn is a rural township near Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, 93 km southwest of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

. It is located in Golden Plains Shire

Golden Plains Shire

Golden Plains Shire is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the south-western part of the state. It includes the towns of Bannockburn, Gheringhap, Linton, Berringa and Meredith. It has an area of 2,721 square kilometres. In 2009 it had a population of 18,173...

. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Bannockburn had a population of 2486.

The township, originally named Leigh Road, founded in the early 1850s, is assumed to be named after the 14th century battle site

Battle of Bannockburn

The Battle of Bannockburn was a significant Scottish victory in the Wars of Scottish Independence...

 in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It grew as a coaching stop during the 1850s and '60s

1860s

The 1860s were an extremely turbulent decade with numerous cultural, social, and political upheavals in Europe and America. Revolutions were prevalent in Germany and the Ottoman Empire...

 when gold was shipped from the Ballarat

Ballarat, Victoria

Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...

 goldfields to the port of Geelong. The railway came to the town with the opening of the Geelong-Ballarat line in 1862, but today only grain and freight trains use the line. The township grew around the railway station and a Post Office (Leigh Road Railway Station) opened on May 18, 1863 (and renamed Leigh Road (1873), Wabdallah (1875) and finally Bannockburn (1892)).

The township contains notable examples of Victorian colonial architecture, such as the former Somerset Hotel (1854), now a private home, and the Bannockburn railway station (1863).

The nearby Bannockburn Vineyards is a 25-hectare vineyard on the Midland Highway

Midland Highway

The Midland Highway links major towns in Victoria , beginning from Geelong and leading all the way to Mansfield. It winds through country Victoria in a large arc, travelling via the towns of Ballarat, Bendigo and Shepparton...

, established in 1974 by Stuart Hooper. Grapes grown include cabernet sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...

, chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

, malbec

Malbec

Malbec is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are long known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. The French plantations of Malbec are now found primarily in Cahors in the South West...

, merlot

Merlot

Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...

, pinot noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...

, riesling

Riesling

Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...

, sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a green-skinned grape variety which originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French word sauvage and blanc due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in South West France., a possible descendant of savagnin...

 and shiraz.

The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Geelong & District Football League

Geelong & District Football League

The Geelong & District Football League is the oldest surviving football competition in Victoria . It is one of three Australian rules football leagues in the Geelong area, the others being the Geelong Football League and the Bellarine Football League....

known as the Tigers and a cricket club called the Bannockburn Bulls.

Golfers play at the Bannockburn Golf Club on Teesdale Road.