WINCHELSEA isn't your ordinary country town.

Just outside of Geelong and considered a gateway to the Western District, the town has a fiercely loyal community that will rally to raise money for any local cause.

The local hospital, the latest focus of support, is now endowed with a state-of-the-art dementia-specific ward with 10 extra beds.

Judy Wilson has always been one to help out but when she was approached to open the gardens of her home, Murdeduke, to the public for a fundraising day for the dementia ward - she said she went a step further.

"I said, 'well, if we are going to open the garden, we may as well do a bit more'," Judy says.

And the bit more has turned into an open garden day on Sunday with a large garden fair, guest speakers throughout the day and local produce available - from Otway Pork to Irrewarra ice cream.

Murdeduke, just outside Winchelsea, has been home to three generations of the Wilson family since the 1940s.

"(Judy's husband Bruce's) parents bought the property, and his mother, Jessica, made some serious changes in what was then a bit of a neglected garden," she says.

The garden, which surrounds the two-storey gothic-style bluestone homestead, has survived recent droughts through the innovative use of desalinated groundwater (bore water).

"The garden has been nurtured," Judy said.

The Murdeduke garden has not been open to the public for several years and, aside from the chance to wander around the spectacular formal and informal garden, there will be local producers and plenty of gardening equipment, plants and information available.

Modestly, though, Judy says the day wouldn't go ahead without the generous support of the local community through sponsorship and donations, such as the marquee.

All proceeds from the Murdeduke Open Garden will be donated to the Winchelsea Hospital Building Appeal.

The public hospital at Winchelsea has prospered since its near closure in the 1990s, and this extension marks the third time the hospital has been extended.

"We are unique," Hesse Rural Health board member Jenny Mathison says.

The hospital had just 11 beds when Jenny moved to Winchelsea as a nurse in 1971, however, with the addition of the dementia-specific wing, that will take bed numbers up to 55.

"Hopefully this day at Murdeduke will increase the awareness of what we have been doing," Jenny says.

    Checklist
  • Murdeduke will be open 10am-4.30pm on Sunday, adults: $10, children under 18 free. Details: Murdeduke, 730 Cressy Rd Winchelsea, or visit the Murdeduke Open Garden website.