Location
Batesford is a rural village on the Moorabool River near where the Midland Highway between Geelong and Ballarat crosses it. Batesford is 10km north-west of Geelong and 67km south-west of Melbourne.

Description
The Batesford countryside is generally flat to undulating with good soil suitable for agriculture. The area is regaining its reputation as a premier wine-producing locality with two vineyards now established.

Batesford remains a small settlement but there have been some newer rural residential developments on five-acre blocks in a nearby area known as Dog Rocks. It is growing in popularity as a residential address because of its proximity to Geelong.

History
Batesford is one of the region's oldest settlements and its name is derived from the surname of two brothers, Alfred and John Bates, who in 1837 settled at a spot where the Moorabool River was readily forded.

The Bates brothers left the area within a couple of years and Dr John Learmonth acquired a large tract of land in the locality. He built Laurence Park homestead in 1842, to be replaced by a more permanent building in 1845. It is on the Register of the National Estate.

A wooden bridge was built over the river at Batesford in 1846, and in 1848 the Travellers' Rest Inn was built from timbers recovered when the bridge was washed away. There were several small and large landowners at Batesford and in 1854 one of them, George Hope (an 1839 squatter) subdivided part of his holding for a township and small farms on the east side of the river.

In 1853 a Catholic school was opened, while an Anglican school was opened the following year. From 1858 to 1962 Batesford was the site of major bridge works. The road bridge was replaced with a five-span structure, considered to be one of the finest of its kind. It is now on the Register of the National Estate.

Vineyards, orchards and small-farm agriculture were the basis of Batesford's economy. But the wine industry across Victoria, including Batesford, was wiped out when the vine root aphid phylloxera vastatrix was detected. The Government ordered the destruction of all vines on affected properties and placed 15-year ban on replantings.