Birchip, Victoria
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2007}}
{{Infobox Australian place | type = town
| name = Birchip
| state = vic
| image = Birchip Main Street 002.JPG
| caption = The main street of Birchip
| lga = Shire of Buloke
| postcode = 3483
| est =
| pop = 694
| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}}
| elevation= 102
| use_lga_map = yes
| coordinates = {{coord|35|59|0|S|142|56|0|E|display=inline,title}}
| maxtemp = 22.2
| mintemp = 8.6
| rainfall = 374.1
| stategov = Mildura
| fedgov = Mallee
| dist1 = 312
| dir1 = NW
| location1= Melbourne
| dist2 = 172
| dir2 = NW
| location2= Bendigo
| dist3 = 137
| dir3 = NE
| location3= Horsham
| dist4 = 116
| dir4 = SW
| location4= Swan Hill
| dist5 = 65
| dir5 = NW
| location5= Warracknabeal
| near-nw = Karyrie
| near-n = Whirily
| near-ne = Whirily
| near-w = Karyrie
| near-e = Narraport
| near-sw = Birchip West
| near-s = Morton Plains
| near-se = Narraport
}}
Birchip is a town in the Mallee region of Victoria, Australia on the Sunraysia Highway north of Donald. The town is located in the Shire of Buloke local government area. At the {{CensusAU|2021}}, Birchip had a population of 694, down from the 2016 figure of 702. It has a P-12 school, and an Australian rules football club called Birchip-Watchem, also known as the Birchip-Watchem Bulls, or just the "Bulls".{{cite web|title=Birchip P-12 School|access-date=2012-04-16|url=http://www.birchip.vic.edu.au/}}{{cite web|title=Birchip-Watchem Bulls|access-date=2012-04-16|url=http://birchipwatchemfc.vcfl.com.au/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050206035405/http://www.birchipwatchemfc.vcfl.com.au/|archive-date=2005-02-06|url-status=dead}}
History
A pastoral run was established in the region named WirmburchepButler and Brooke's National Directory of Victoria for 1866-67, section: Squatting Directory. Victoria. 1866. and when surveyed a parish was gazetted as Wirmbirchip.
Closer settlement began in the area by then known as around 1882 and a Post Office under that name opened on 2 July 1883 (Birchip from 1 January 1890).{{Citation
| last = Premier Postal History | title = Post Office List | url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&country= | access-date = 2008-04-11 }} The town was surveyed as Birchip in 1887 though known by the inhabitants by the original name for quite some years later.
Birchip Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1983, though the court had not sat in Birchip since 1973.{{cite web | url=https://www.audit.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/19860901-Special-Report-4-Court-Closures-in-Victoria.pdf | title=Special Report No. 4 - Court Closures in Victoria | publisher=Auditor-General of Victoria | date=1986 |pages=80 | access-date=12 April 2020}}
Birchip today
The farms in the area typically grow wheat, barley, canola, and other cereals. Some people have pig sheds, though most livestock in the district are sheep. There is a hospital which shares a lodge for elderly care.{{cite web|title=East Wimmera Health Services|access-date=2012-04-16|url=http://www.ewhs.org.au/}}
Five main roads enter the town. It is located approximately {{convert|312|km|mi|0}} northwest of Victoria's capital city Melbourne. A road passes through Birchip that divides the Wimmera region of Victoria (to the south) from the Mallee region of Victoria (to the north). To travel to Birchip from Melbourne there are two preferred routes, one via the outskirts of Ballarat via the Sunraysia Highway and one around Bendigo via the Calder Highway. Each route's travel times are similar and the Ballarat route is more mountainous in some areas. There is an aerodrome for light aircraft.
With its neighbouring township Watchem Birchip has a football team (Birchip-Watchem) competing in the North Central Football League.
Golfers play at the Birchip Golf Club on Watson Street.{{Citation | author= Golf Select | title = Birchip | url = http://www.golfselect.com.au/armchair/courseView.aspx?course_id=932 | access-date = 2009-05-11 }}
Most sport in Birchip is played at the [https://web.archive.org/web/20100315131110/http://www.birchip.com/bclc/ Birchip Community Leisure Centre] (BCLC). The BCLC is home to Australian rules football, netball, hockey, cricket, tennis, golf and squash.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Birchip, Victoria}}
- [http://www.birchip.vic.au Community website]
- [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/223164885/23793852/ 1925 - The Growing Important Of Birchip and District]
- [https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/223188870/ 1931 - History of Birchip: No. 69 of The Weekly Times Country Towns Series]
{{Towns in The Shire of Buloke}}
{{Wimmera}}
{{authority control}}