Bambra, Victoria

Bambra Victoria
Bambra is located in Surf Coast Shire Bambra
Coordinates
Population	278 (2011)
Postcode(s)	3241
Location	43 km (27 mi) SW of Geelong 108 km (67 mi) SW of Melbourne
LGA(s)	Surf Coast Shire
State electorate(s)	Polwarth
Federal Division(s)	Corangamite
Localities around Bambra: Birregurra Winchelsea South Winchelsea South Deans Marsh Bambra Wensleydale Deans Marsh Boonah Wensleydale

Bambra is a rural locality in the Surf Coast Shire, Victoria, Australia. In the 2011 census, Bambra and surrounding areas (including Winchelsea South and a rural section of Birregurra) had a population of 278 people. It is named after an Aboriginal word for mushroom.

The locality was initially named "Retreat", but was later renamed Bambra after an Aboriginal word for mushroom. The area was opened up for selection in the 1860s. Bambra State School was opened on 20 September 1866. The Bambra Chapel, a Bible Christian Church, was opened in 1868, and became a Methodist church in 1903. A second church, the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, held its first service on 25 May 1902. Bambra Post Office opened on 23 September 1892 and closed on 29 September 1973. The school closed around the 1980s; the churches have also closed, although one survives as a private house. The area has predominantly been used for agricultural, pastoral and dairying purposes; however, a coal mine in adjacent Winchelsea South, sometimes referred to as the Bambra mine, was active from 1921 until between 1928 and 1931, and from 1943 to 1957.

The locality still has a public hall, cemetery and a Hare Krishna retreat.