Coolart Wetlands and Homestead

The original inhabitants of Coolart were the Bunurong tribe of Aborigines and it is from the word "Colourt" or "Callert" - their name for nearby Sandy Point - that the present name of Coolart is derived.

In 1895, Frederick Sheppard Grimwade bought the estate and built the imposing homestead as the family's country retreat. Between 1907 and 1937 Coolart was held at different times by Thomas Armstrong, James Balmain and John Sylvester Feehan. The late Tom Luxton purchased the property in 1937 and immediately had the property declared a sanctuary for native wildlife and embarked upon a program of habitat development. The 87 hectare nucleus of the Coolart area was purchased by the Victorian State Government in 1977 and it was proclaimed as a reserve for "Conservation and Education Purposes".

Coolart has a large diversity of wildlife despite its relatively small size. It has nine species of frog, including the increasingly rare Growling Grass Frog. Thirteen species of mammal ranging in size from the tiny, mouse-sized Agile Antechinus to the large Swamp Wallaby. There are eleven species of reptile including the Common Long-necked Tortoise, Blue-tongue Lizard, Copperhead, White-lipped Snake and several species of skinks. Birds are the most numerous of the larger wildlife and 177 species have been recorded. Eight species of fish and four crustaceans have been found in the waterways.

The varied vegetation is the key to the wildlife diversity at Coolart. The property consists of different plant communities including manna gum/banksia woodland, grassland, paperbark swamps and wetlands of sedges, reeds and rushes.