Bury St. Edmunds
 Abbeys |
Bury St Edmunds is an ancient town situated in the east of the county beside the River Lark, a tributary of the Ouse. Few areas in England can match the beauty and history of the town; said to have been the site of a Roman villa it was later a royal Saxon township the fame of which increased with the many miracles, legends and folklore that became woven into the fabric of its history.
From humble Saxon beginnings, Bury St Edmunds became home to one of the most powerful abbeys in medieval Europe; in essence a medieval town it grew up around the gates of the great Benedictine monastery founded in AD1020 by Cnut - the celebrated king better known today as Canute. The abbey's rise to prominence came about because of the martyrdom of King Edmund and his subsequent burial there.
The motto of the borough of St Edmundsbury is ‘Shrine of a King, Cradle of the Law'. The king in question is King Edmund, king of the East Angles, who was killed by Danish raiders in AD869. A devout Christian, Edmund when captured refused to renounce his faith so the Danes shot him full of arrows, cut off his head and threw it into a nearby wood. Legend has it that the severed head called out to his followers to be found, and when discovered was being guarded by a fiercesome wolf. The arrows, the wolf and the crowned head still form the basis of the coat-of-arms of the Borough of St Edmundsbury. St Edmund was also an early Patron Saint of England before bowing to the dragon-slayer, St George.
By the time that the Norman conquerors arrived in 1066, the Benedictine Abbey where Edmund's remains were laid had already been renamed St Edmundsbury. In fact, his shrine stood for centuries in the medieval abbey and from him the eventual town name derived - Bury St Edmunds. Under the authority of a succession of astute abbots, the abbey itself arose to a position of power, influence and authority. Here it was in 1214 that the 25 most powerful Barons of England met in the Abbey Church, swearing an oath to force King John to accept and ratify the ‘Charter of Liberties', better known as the Magna Carta - this the king did in 1215, signed at Runneymede. ‘Cradle of the Law', the second half of the town motto, refers to this tradition. The Magna Carta forms the basis of English democracy, and influenced the governments in many other English-speaking countries.
During the Norman period Bury St Edmunds developed into a prosperous market town with a thriving cloth-making industry, this despite much riotous behaviour breaking-out in the 14 th century, including the destruction of the Abbey Gate in the uprising of 1327. In the following century the town enjoyed royal patronage. The construction of St Mary's Church was completed in 1427 and this splendid structure played host to Henry VIII on many occasions; it is here that his sister Mary Tudor lies buried. With Henry's dissolution of the monasteries between 1536-9, the abbey, like so many other monastic buildings, suffered savagely at the hands of both crown and subjects. The crown took church wealth and property to itself while the townspeople dismantled the church structure, taking what they could to adorn their own properties. The ruined abbey remains are surrounded today by the splendid Abbey Gardens and its church gate, rebuilt in 1353, is one of the finest examples of early Norman architecture in England.
Many secular medieval buildings such as the splendid Guildhall still remain in situ , but unfortunately, most are hidden behind elegant 17 th & 18 th century facades. Nevertheless, the large number of fine buildings in Bury St Edmunds testifies to its prosperity and to the wealth of its citizenry throughout the 18 th century. The Athenaeum, which opened in 1714 as Assembly Rooms, has been a centre for social life ever since. The Manor House on Honey Hill was built in 1736 for the Earl of Bristol and since reverting to being a private house, its sumptuous collection of costume, art and horology have been transfered to Moyse's Hall Museum, the oldest domestic town house in East Anglia.
The 16 th century Church of St James was chosen to be Suffolk's Cathedral in 1913 and remains to this day the only unfinished Cathedral Church in the country, lacking the spire it was always intended to have. Nearby, St Mary's Church is built on the site of an ancient Norman church, and contains a very impressive interior. The ‘Abbey Trail' takes visitors through the town to the old abbey ruins where the Visitor Centre interprets its long history.
Charles Dickens was a regular visitor to the town and in ‘Pickwick Papers' calls it ‘a handsome little town of thriving and cleanly appearance'. Dickens stayed at the Angel Hotel where the Dickens Suite, including his own bed, is still available to patrons. Daniel Defoe described it as a town ‘famed for its pleasant situation and wholesome air'.
Bury St Edmunds' prosperity filtered out from the centre to enrich the whole borough, evidence of which may still be seen in town and village streets and in the magnificent parish churches that adorn this part of Suffolk. Man's endeavours are further enhanced by the beauty of unspoilt landscapes in which they are set - an enduring reminder of a time in English history when man complimented nature, alas now long lost in many quarters of Old Albion.