180px|thumb|[[Bulla Bridge, built 1869]]

Bulla is a town in Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hume local government area. Bulla recorded a population of 668 at the 2021 census. It was first settled by William "Tulip" Wright, the former chief constable of Melbourne in 1843. In 1851 the village was surveyed. A flour mill, brickworks and pottery works were built to exploit local kaolinite reserves, and facilities were quickly erected to serve the local population, including several churches (two of which are now listed by the National Trust), a school, general store, and from 1862, council offices.

Bulla Post Office opened on 1 March 1851, but was known as Bulla Bulla until 1854.

At the time it was the largest town in the region, but competition from Sunbury limited the growth of the town. In 1956, the Bulla Shire Council (now part of the City of Hume following amalgamation in 1994) moved to Sunbury,

The ABS reported in 2001 that 12% of the town's residents are of Italian descent. A Calabria Club is located on Uniting Lane.

Next to the former Shire's bluestone hall in the main street of Bulla is the Alister Clark Memorial Rose Garden. Alister Clark, who was the Shire's president several times and whose house 'Glenara' lies on Deep Creek in the old Shire of Bulla, was the most prolific and best known of Australian rose breeders. The garden, created and maintained by local volunteers, has a nearly complete collection of his surviving roses.

Transport

Bus route 479 passes through Bulla. It operates between Westfield Airport West shopping centre and Sunbury railway station.

See also

  • Shire of Bulla – Bulla was previously within this former local government area.
  • List of reduplicated Australian place names

References

  • Australian Places - Bulla
  • Tullamarine Live Steam Society (homepage)