Skipton
Postcode: 3361
Skipton is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. The town is situated on the Glenelg Highway 166 kilometres west of the state capital, Melbourne and 52 kilometres south west of the regional centre, Ballarat. Part of Corangamite Shire Local government area, Skipton is on the banks of Mt Emu Creek and at the 2001 census had a population of 460. Skipton is named after Skipton, in Yorkshire, England and is known as “the home of the platypus”.
Skipton was first established in 1839 as a pastoral run and a town site was surveyed in 1852. The town held the first agricultural show in the Western District in 1859.
Fine wool is the main agricultural product of the Skipton area. A rail trail allows cyclists to ride between Skipton and Ballarat.
Named for a village in Yorkshire, Skipton also traces back to the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘sheep town’, which is perfectly apt as the Glenelg Highway township has long hosted fine wool sales.
The district showpiece is Mooramong homestead which dates back to the 1870s. The homestead and its furniture reflect the life and elegant style of its most famous owners, American silent movies star Claire Adams and her husband Scobie Mackinnon.
They bought the property in 1937 and remodelled the run-down interior in Art Deco style. The property remains an operating farm and the homestead is surrounded by a native flora and fauna reserve established according to the Mackinnons’ wishes after Mooramong was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1982.