The extraordinary connection between Bury St Edmunds and Melbourne, capital of the Australian state of Victoria

Did you know of the uncanny and unique connection between a Suffolk town and a bustling Australian city?

Bury St Edmunds and Melbourne are roughly 10,000 miles apart with a population difference of more than five million, but one of the Victoria state city’s suburbs bears a striking resemblance to the historic market town.

The City of Monash is a local government district in the state capital, with an area of 81.5 sqkm and a population of just over 200,000 people.

And tucked in its western quarter are a series of consecutive streets which share their names with those of thoroughfares in and around Bury town centre.

The streets, from left to right, are:

→ Westgate Street

→ Hatter Street

→ Eastgate Street

→ Abbeygate Street

→ These are all intersected by a Schoolhall Street (Bury has a Schoolhall Lane)

City of Monash’s government website said in the mid 19th century land in the area was divided into blocks of 160 acres and 80 acres by Eugene Bellairs.

Land was bought and resold at higher prices but two speculators, Henry de Carte and James Watson, took a different approach.

They purchased a 59-acre block in the south-west corner of the Parish of Mulgrave, subdivided it into 369 lots and renamed their area ‘The Magnificent Township of Bury St Edmunds’.

The land was desirable for its soil quality and large quantities of timber, although auctioneers at the time were doubtful about the future of the township.

However, as the segment says, these streets remain ‘a monument to this early example of land speculation in the area’.

All of the Bury streets are in the town’s medieval grid.

Westgate Street is home to the town’s Theatre Royal and Greene King, although the brewery plans the move.

Abbeygate Street runs through the middle of the town centre, leading on to Angel Hill and the Abbey Gardens.

Hatter Street is off Abbeygate Street.

Eastgate Street leads away from the town centre towards the Moreton Hall area.

Schoolhall Lane joins Northgate Street with Garland Street.