OUR HISTORY

Did you know that "Avalon" was a legendary island in England where the famous King 

Arthur's magic sword was wrought? It is also the place he went to when he was dying of 

his battle wounds, and he was buried there together with his Queen, Guinevere, in a coffin 

made of a tree trunk.

Nowadays, many people believe the location of the island of Avalon was in Glastonbury in 

England where a Christian Abbey was built in the 13th century. A huge midsummer music 

festival is celebrated there every year, attracting over a million people over the five days 

to listen to music and be inspired by the magic and mystery of the place.

The Avalon Homestead, which we now use as Avalon College, was built in 1880 by James 

Austin, as a house for his family. The Austin family owned many large farms around 

Geelong and Western Victoria, and bred sheep, cattle and horses. They called this 

homestead "Avalon" in memory of their family home in England, Glastonbury Abbey. They 

placed a stone rosette from Glastonbury Abbey in the wall at the front of the homestead 

with a plaque above which reads:

Into the walls of Avalon is wrought 

This stone from Glastonbury brought 

Stay for a while Traveller and view 

This link between the old world and the new

Avalon College was established here in the homestead by Jeffrey and Robyn Brook in 1998. 

Jeffrey and Robyn began Avalon College because they felt that young international 

students preparing to study in Australian schools needed a special and caring environment 

to develop their English skills and learn about Australia. Avalon College has always been a 

boarding school as we believe that boarding provides students and their parents with the 

guarantee of a safe and caring environment. Since 1998 many hundreds of international 

students have learned English here, and gone on to successful futures in many of the top 

schools in Australia and throughout the world.