Spotswood | |||||||||||||
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 View of Spotswood from Westgate Bridge | |||||||||||||
  Spotswood | |||||||||||||
 Interactive map of Spotswood | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates:37°49′52″S144°53′13″E / 37.831°S 144.887°E /-37.831; 144.887 | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Victoria | ||||||||||||
| City | Melbourne | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location |
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| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 3.1 km2 (1.2 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Elevation | 18 m (59 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 2,820 (2021 census)[2] | ||||||||||||
| • Density | 910/km2 (2,360/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 3015 | ||||||||||||
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Spotswood is an inner suburb inMelbourne,Victoria,Australia, 7 km (4.3 mi) south-west of Melbourne'sCentral Business District, located within theCity of Hobsons Baylocal government area. Spotswood recorded a population of 2,820 at the2021 census.[2]
The suburb is bounded by theNewport–Sunshine freight railway line in the west, theWest Gate Freeway in the north, theYarra River in the east and the Burleigh Street in the south.
Spotswood was named after John Stewart Spotswood, who was one of the first farmers who owned much of the area in the 1840s.[3]
Spottiswoode Post Office opened on 1 February 1882 and was renamed Spottiswood around 1903 and Spotswood around 1906.[4]
Spotswood is known for the Victorian Science Museum, known asScienceworks. Scienceworks is near the old sewage pumping station of Spotswood, constructed in 1897. This location was also used as the police headquarters inMad Max and for the Academy Award-winning short filmHarvie Krumpet.
Spotswood was the setting of the eponymous Australian film,Spotswood, made in 1990–1991, released in 1992, starringAnthony Hopkins. Most of the scenes in Spotswood were shot in the suburb, but themoccasin factory is fictional and doesn't exist in Spotswood; the factory scenes in the movie were shot in the old sewage pumping station. Moccasins are aderogatorystereotype for the western suburbs of Melbourne; implying a lack ofclass, culture and sophistication even though they are commonly used elsewhere in Australia.[citation needed] The suburb was the main location in the clay animation short-filmHarvie Krumpet.
Spotswood railway station is served by train services on theWerribee andWilliamstown lines. Severalbus routes also traverse the suburb.
The suburb has anAustralian Rules football team theSpotswood Football Club competing in theWestern Region Football League.[5] The Spotswood Cricket Club also plays at McLean Reserve and competes in the Victorian Sub District Cricket Association. Golfers play at the course of the Westgate Golf Club on Creek Street.[6]
