Step inside one of Geelong’s most significant industrial heritage sites and uncover the remarkable story of the Fyansford Paper Mill.
Constructed between 1876 and 1878 from locally quarried bluestone and brick, this Heritage Victoria-listed precinct showcases the ingenuity of early industrial design, featuring the original mill buildings, manager’s residence, workers’ cottages, bluestone water race, impeller, tower and stone weir. Manufacturing began in 1878, producing paper from recycled rags, cloth, sails and other textile fibres that were collected, sorted and repurposed into new paper, an early example of circular production principles long before the term existed.
Guided by the Rotary Club of Highton, visitors will follow the historic paper-making trail through the precinct, discovering how water power, local materials and resource recovery underpinned one of Victoria’s pioneering manufacturing enterprises. Learn how discarded textiles were transformed into a valuable product through a process that reflects today’s ideas of reuse, recycling and circular design.
Today, the Fyansford Paper Mill has been thoughtfully reimagined as a thriving creative precinct, home to artisan workshops and galleries, a winery, restaurant, café and other small businesses. Experience firsthand how heritage conservation, adaptive reuse, craftsmanship and contemporary creativity come together to give new life to a place shaped by innovation for nearly 150 years.
Join us for a fascinating journey through history, industry and design, where the past continues to inspire sustainable thinking for the future.
