Shoreham

Shoreham, a coastal village on the Mornington Peninsula and facing Western Port Bay, is 68 km south of Melbourne. It is situated where several streams descend from the peninsula's hills, and one of the streams, Stony Creek, was the name first given to the place by European settlers.

Farm selections were taken up during the 1860s-70s, involving the clearing of quite heavy tree cover. Several of the settlers were Irish Catholics and they established a church in the early 1880s. In 1882 the headmaster of Stony Creek school (1875) successfully proposed that the name be changed to Shoreham, to avoid confusion with other places named Stony Creek.

Whereas Flinders, 6 km southwards, became a holiday and tourist place, Shoreham remained an agricultural village for nearly the next 100 years. In 1903 it was described in the Australian handbook:

The school, which was closed upon the establishment of Red Hill Consolidated in 1951, became the local hall and an historic focal point. It is situated in a reserve next to the tennis courts. The village also has a post office, a fire station and the Buxton Woodland Reserve (formerly Buxton children's camp).

Holiday homes have been built in Shoreham without significantly detracting from the landscape. An extensive foreshore reserve overlooking two beaches has tree cover for a shaded camping area. To the north-east is Point Leo with a surf beach, a large camping ground, a public park and a general store. The Catholic church (rebuilt in 1984 after a fire) overlooks the village and beyond the church there are the Ashcombe Maze garden and some wineries.

Shoreham's census populations have been:

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