Vectis

Vectis is a rural locality in the Wimmera region, 15 km west of Horsham. It was named after the Vectis pastoral run which was taken up in 1844 by James and Alexander Wilson. The run was mainly on the west side of the Wimmera River, extending to Mount Arapiles, whereas the present locality is east of the river.

During the early 1870s several settlers of the German-Lutheran tradition took up farm selections east of the Wimmera River. They mostly came from Victoria’s Hamilton district and from the Mount Gambier area in South Australia. They opened the Zion Lutheran church in 1875. Several schools were opened, including a government school (1875), Vectis East school (1876), a short lived Vectis South and Vectis Central schools, and the Lutheran Zion school (1878). Attendances at the Lutheran school detracted from the government schools, most of which soon closed, with only Vectis East continuing until 1962. The Lutheran school ran until 1975, apart from an unexplained closure during 1890-1909. A hotel named the Vectis Bridge was open from about 1875.

The Vectis district has been noted as the centre of a very fertile portion of the Wimmera and including numerous orchards. It had a train service when the line from Horsham to Noradjuha was opened in 1887. Traffic was mainly restricted to freight, and was discontinued during the 1980s.

A separate settlement named Quantong within the Vectis area had irrigated orchards and market gardens. ‘Quantong’ has largely superseded Vectis as the area’s place name.

The census populations of Vectis have been:

The Lutheran church is part of the Natimuk parish.