Lovely Banks

Lovely Banks is a residential and rural/residential area immediately north-west of the Geelong urban region. It adjoins the Geelong suburbs of Corio and Norlane and reaches north to Anakie.

The origin of the name is thought to be descriptive of the area. The land to the west rises quite quickly from 30 to 100 metres above sea level. It provides an expansive view of Geelong and Corio Bay.

In or before 1871 a United Methodist Chapel was opened at Lovely Banks, the site of a service reservoir for Geelong's water supply. A school was opened in the Methodist chapel in 1875 and two years later a permanent school building was constructed in the water-storage reserve. A Mutual Improvement Association and free library functioned during the 1880s-90s. An optimistic subdivision of 393 lots in 1925 was several decades ahead of its time.

The school, post office and reservoir continued for several decades as the most tangible markers of Lovely Banks. Subsequently, the Corio aerodrome was laid out on the higher land. The Catholic Chanel College (boys-1958) was opened, subsequently being taken over by the Geelong Baptist College in 2002. A Greek Orthodox monastery is nearby.

By the 1970s Lovely Banks was a short way beyond the Geelong urban area, and residential dwellings were built there to take advantage of the rural fringe. The State primary school closed in 1996.

Lovely Banks census populations have been: