Before European settlement, the Bunurong Aboriginal people used Churchill Island. The mudflats provided them with a good food source including flounder, shark and oysters. Churchill Island also holds an important place in the history of European settlement in Victoria. It was Lt. James Grant who disembarked from the Lady Nelson in 1801 and named it after the man who had given him seeds that he planted, making it the site of the first European agricultural pursuits in Victoria.

Since the 1850’s, the 57 hectare island has been continuously farmed and in 1872 when Samuel Amess, former Mayor of Melbourne, purchased the island for both holiday and farming use. He built a substantial house and outbuildings.

Access to the island prior to the first bridge, was often by barge at high tide, with the cattle being driven across the mudflats at low tide. Then in 1959, the owner at the time, Dr Harry Jenkins had the first bridge built. The current bridge was completed in 2000.

Of the many buildings that still stand and have been restored, include the Amess Homestead (c 1872), Amess Half Cellar, Amess Barn. There is also Rogers Cottages (c 1860) and the Wash House (c 1900).

Source: Churchill Island PO Box 97, COWES VIC 3922