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Bury St Edmunds

Coordinates:52°14′51″N0°43′06″E/ 52.2474°N 0.7183°E/52.2474; 0.7183
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This article is about the town. For other uses, seeBury St Edmunds (disambiguation).

Bury St Edmunds
TownandCivil parish
Clockwise from top: Bury aerial view, Abbeygate Street,St Mary's Church,AbbeygateandCathedral
Bury St Edmunds is located in Suffolk
Bury St Edmunds
Bury St Edmunds
Location withinSuffolk
Population48,000 (2011)[1]
OS grid referenceTL855645
Civil parish
  • Bury St Edmunds
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Areas of the town
List
Post townBURY ST. EDMUNDS
Postcode districtIP32, IP33
Dialling code01284
PoliceSuffolk
FireSuffolk
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Suffolk
52°14′51″N0°43′06″E/ 52.2474°N 0.7183°E/52.2474; 0.7183

Bury St Edmunds(/ˈbɛrisəntˈɛdməndz/), commonly referred to locally asBuryis acathedralandmarket townin theWest Suffolkdistrict, in the county ofSuffolk,England.[2]The town is best known forBury St Edmunds AbbeyandSt Edmundsbury Cathedral.Bury is the seat of theDiocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswichof theChurch of England,with theepiscopal seeatSt Edmundsbury Cathedral.In 2011 it had a population of 45,000 and acivil parish.The town, originally called Beodericsworth,[3]was built on a grid pattern by Abbot Baldwin around 1080.[4][5]It is known for brewing and malting (Greene Kingbrewery)[6]and for aBritish Sugarprocessing factory, where Silver Spoon sugar is produced. The town is the cultural and retail centre for West Suffolk and tourism is a major part of the economy.

Etymology[edit]

The nameBuryisetymologicallyconnected withborough,[7]which hascognatesin otherGermanic languagessuch as GermanBurg'fortress, castle' andBereich'(defined) area'Old Norseborg'wall, castle'; andGothicbaurg'city'.[8]They all derive fromProto-Germanic*burgs'fortress'. This in turn derives from theProto-Indo-Europeanroot*bhrgh'fortified elevation', with cognates includingWelshbera'stack' andSanskritbhrant-'high, elevated building'.

The second section of the name refers toEdmundKing of theEast Angles,called Edmund the Martyr, who was killed by theVikingsin the year 869. He became venerated as a saint and a martyr, and his shrine made Bury St Edmunds an important place of pilgrimage.

The formal name of the diocese is "St Edmundsbury", and the town is colloquially known as Bury.

History[edit]

medieval arms of Bury
Illumination of thearmsof Bury St Edmunds (British Library)

An archaeological study in the 2010s on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds (Beodericsworth,Bedrichesworth,St Edmund's Bury) uncovered evidence of Bronze Age activity in the area. The dig also uncoveredRomancoins from the first and second centuries.[9]Samuel Lewis, writing in 1848, notes the earlier discovery of Roman antiquities, and as with several other writers connects Bury St Edmunds withVilla FaustiniorVilla Faustina,although the location of this Roman site is also discussed byE. Gillingwater(1804), who notes the lack of evidence for it being here.[10][11][12]

The town was one of the royal boroughs of theSaxons.[10]Sigebert,king of theEast Angles,founded amonasteryhere about 633, which in 903 became the burial place of King Edmund the Martyr, who was slain by theDanesin 869, and owed most of its early celebrity to the reputed miracles performed at the shrine of the martyr king. The town grew aroundBury St Edmunds Abbey,a site ofpilgrimage.By 925 the fame of St Edmund had spread far and wide, and the name of the town was changed toSt Edmund's Bury.

In 942 or 945, KingEdmund Ihad granted to theabbotandconventjurisdiction over the whole town, free from all secular services, andCanutein 1020 freed it from episcopal control. Later,Edward the Confessormade the abbot lord of the franchise. The older monastery was destroyed and, the secular priests having been expelled, a newBenedictineabbey was built.[13]CountAlan Rufusis said to have been interred at Bury St Edmunds Abbey in 1093. In the 12th and 13th centuries the head of the de Hastings family, who held the Lordship of the Manor of Ashill in Norfolk, was hereditary Steward of this abbey.[14]

Early view ofMoyses Hall,today Moyses Hall Museum

The town was for a time the home of a thriving Jewish community, and it is likely, although not certain, thatMoyse's Hallbelonged to a Jewish merchant.[15]On 18 March 1190, two days after the more well-known massacre of Jews atClifford TowerinYork,the people of Bury St Edmunds massacred 57 Jews.[16][17]Later that year,Abbot Samsonsuccessfully petitionedKing Richard Ifor permission to evict the town's remaining Jewish inhabitants "on the grounds that everything in the town... belonged by right to St Edmund: therefore, either the Jews should be St Edmund's men or they should be banished from the town."[18]This expulsion predates theEdict of Expulsionby 100 years. In 1198, a fire burned the shrine of St Edmund, leading to the inspection of his corpse byAbbot Samsonand the translation of St Edmund's body to a new location in theabbey.[18]

The town is associated withMagna Carta.In 1214 thebarons of Englandare believed to have met in the abbey church and sworn to forceKing Johnto accept theCharter of Liberties,the document which influenced the creation of Magna Carta,[13]a copy of which was displayed in the town's cathedral during the 2014 celebrations. By various grants from the abbots, the town gradually attained the rank of aborough.

Henry IIIin 1235 granted to the abbot two annual fairs, one in December and the other the greatSt Matthew's fair, which was abolished by theFairs Act of 1871.[13]In 1327, the Great Riot occurred, in which the local populace led an armed revolt against the abbey.[19]The riot destroyed the main gate, and a new, fortified gate was built in its stead.[19]On 11 April 1608 agreat firebroke out in Eastgate Street, which resulted in 160 dwellings and 400 outhouses being destroyed.[19]

Thomas Warren's map of Bury St Edmunds, 1776

The town developed into a flourishing cloth-making town, with a largewoollentrade, by the 14th century.[19]In 1405Henry IVgranted another fair.[13]

Elizabeth Iin 1562 confirmed the charters which former kings had granted to the abbots. The reversion of the fairs and two markets on Wednesday and Saturday were granted by James I in fee farm to the corporation.James Iin 1606 granted a charter of incorporation with an annual fair in Easter week and a market. James granted further charters in 1608 and 1614, as didCharles IIin 1668 and 1684.[13]

Parliaments were held in the borough in 1272, 1296 and 1446, but the borough was not represented until 1608, when James I conferred on it the privilege of sending two members.[13]TheRedistribution of Seats Act 1885reduced the representation to one.[13]

The borough of Bury St Edmunds and the surrounding area, like much ofEast Anglia,being part of theEastern Association,supportedPuritansentiment during the first half of the 17th century. By 1640, several families had departed for theMassachusetts Bay Colonyas part of the wave of emigration that occurred during theGreat Migration.[20]Bury's ancient grammar school also educated such notables as the puritan theologianRichard Sibbes,master of St Catherine's Hall inCambridge,antiquary and politicianSimonds d'Ewes,andJohn Winthrop the Younger,[21]who became governor of Connecticut.

The town was the setting forwitch trialsbetween 1599 and 1694.[22]

View of gate, Bury St Edmunds Abbey, c. 1920

Modern history[edit]

The population had reached 12,538 by 1841.[23]

A permanent military presence was established in the town with the completion of theMilitia Barracksin 1857[24]and ofGibraltar Barracksin 1878.[25]

During theSecond World War,theUSAAFusedRougham Airfieldoutside the town.[26]

On 3 March 1974 aTurkish AirlinesDC10jetFlight 981crashed near Paris killing all 346 people on board. Among the victims were 17 members ofBury St Edmunds Rugby Football Club,returning from France.[27]

Notable features[edit]

Bury St Edmunds Guildhall

Near the abbey gardens stands Britain's first internally illuminated street sign, thePillar of Salt,which was built in 1935. The sign is at the terminus of theA1101,Great Britain's lowest road which is mostly below sea level.

There is a network of tunnels which are evidence ofchalk-workings,[28]though there is no evidence of extensive tunnels under the town centre. Some buildings have inter-communicating cellars. Due to their unsafe nature the chalk-workings are not open to the public, although viewing has been granted to individuals. Some have causedsubsidencewithin living memory, for instance at Jacqueline Close.[29]

Among noteworthy buildings isSt Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds,whereMary Tudor, Queen of Franceand sister ofTudorkingHenry VIII,was re-buried, six years after her death, having been moved from the abbey after her brother'sDissolution of the Monasteries.Queen Victoriahad astained glass windowfitted into the church to commemorate Mary's interment.[30]Moreton Hall,aGrade II*listed buildingbyRobert Adam,houses the now-closed Moreton Hall Preparatory School.[31]Bury St Edmunds Guildhalldates back to the late 12th century.[32]

Bury St Edmunds has one of the full-time fire stations run bySuffolk Fire and Rescue Service.Originally located in the Traverse (now the Halifax bank),[33]it moved to Fornham Road in 1953. The Fornham Road site (now Mermaid Close) closed in 1987 and the fire station moved to its current location on Parkway North.[34]

Since March 2015, Bury St Edmunds has been the home town of the London and South East Regional Divorce Unit and the Maintenance Enforcement Business Centre (for issues with maintenance payments outside Greater London). The former processes divorce documents from across London and South East England as one of five centralised units covering the United Kingdom. Both units are based with Bury St Edmunds County Court in Triton House, St Andrews Street North.

Geography[edit]

Bury is located in the middle of an undulating area of East Anglia known as the East Anglian Heights, with land to the east and west of the town rising to above 100 metres (330 ft), though parts of the town itself are as low as 30 m (100 ft) above sea level where the Rivers Lark and Linnet pass through it.

Climate[edit]

There are twoMet Officereporting stations in the vicinity of Bury St Edmunds, Brooms Barn (elevation 76 m or 249 ft),6+1⁄2miles (10 kilometres) west of the town centre, and Honington (elevation 51 m or 167 ft), about6+1⁄2mi (10 km) north. According to Usman Majeed, head of Honington, the latter ceased weather observations in 2003, while Brooms Barn remains operational. Brooms Barn's record maximum temperature stands at 36.7 °C (98.1 °F), recorded in August 2003.[35]The lowest recent temperature was −10.0 °C (14.0 °F)[36]during December 2010.

Rainfall is generally low, at under 600 mm (24 in), and spread fairly evenly throughout the year.

Climate data for Brooms Barn 75m asl, 1991-2020
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 7.1
(44.8) 		7.7
(45.9) 		10.5
(50.9) 		13.8
(56.8) 		17.0
(62.6) 		19.9
(67.8) 		22.6
(72.7) 		22.3
(72.1) 		19.1
(66.4) 		14.7
(58.5) 		10.3
(50.5) 		7.5
(45.5) 		14.4
(57.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 1.9
(35.4) 		1.8
(35.2) 		3.2
(37.8) 		4.8
(40.6) 		7.6
(45.7) 		10.5
(50.9) 		12.7
(54.9) 		12.7
(54.9) 		10.6
(51.1) 		7.9
(46.2) 		4.6
(40.3) 		2.3
(36.1) 		6.7
(44.1)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 51.6
(2.03) 		41.7
(1.64) 		39.8
(1.57) 		40.0
(1.57) 		48.3
(1.90) 		56.9
(2.24) 		54.6
(2.15) 		65.7
(2.59) 		49.9
(1.96) 		61.0
(2.40) 		60.2
(2.37) 		57.6
(2.27) 		627.3
(24.69)
Average rainy days(≥ 1.0 mm) 10.9 10.0 9.2 8.7 8.0 9.1 9.0 9.6 8.6 10.6 11.6 11.5 116.8
Mean monthlysunshine hours 62.2 76.4 121.3 170.5 207.6 198.1 208.1 194.6 152.4 114.5 70.0 57.5 1,633.2
Source: Met Office[37]

Religion[edit]

St Edmundsbury Cathedralfrom the east

The town has a Christian heritage dating back to the foundation of the abbey in 1020. Today there are many active churches in the town.

Abbey[edit]

Main article:Bury St Edmunds Abbey

In the centre of Bury St Edmunds lie the remains of anabbey,surrounded by the abbey gardens. The abbey is ashrinetoSaint Edmund,theSaxon King of the East Angles.The abbey was sacked by the townspeople in the 14th century and then largely destroyed during the 16th century with theDissolution of the Monasteries,but the town remained prosperous throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, only falling into relative decline with theIndustrial Revolution.

Anglican Churches[edit]

Until the building of St John's in 1840, the town had just two parishes, St James's and St Mary's.[38]The former has now become the cathedral. The town now has sevenAnglican churchesin six parishes, St Peter's being in the same parish as St Mary's.[39]

Cathedral[edit]

Main article:St Edmundsbury Cathedral

St James' parish church becameSt Edmundsbury Cathedralwhen theDiocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswichwas formed in 1914. The cathedral was extended with an eastern end in the 1960s. A new Gothic revival cathedral tower was built as part of a Millennium project running from 2000 to 2005. The opening for the tower took place in July 2005, and included abrass bandconcert and fireworks. Parts of the cathedral remain uncompleted, including thecloisters.The tower makes St Edmundsbury the most recently completed Anglican cathedral in the UK, and was constructed using original fabrication techniques by six masons who placed the machine-cut stones individually as they arrived.

St Mary's Church[edit]

Main article:St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds

St Mary's Church is the civic church of Bury St Edmunds and the third largest parish church in England. It was part of the abbey complex and originally was one of three large churches in the town (the others being St James, now St Edmundsbury Cathedral, and St Margaret's, now gone). It is renowned for its magnificenthammer-beam"angel" roof, and is the final resting place ofMary Tudor, Queen of France,Duchess of Suffolkand favourite sister ofHenry VIII.St Mary's is also home to the Chapel of theSuffolkandRoyal Anglian Regiments.

The town has other Anglican churches:

  • All Saints, Park Road; built 1953[40]
  • Christ Church, Moreton Hall; founded 1983, built 1993[41]
  • St George, Anselm Avenue; built 1951[42]
  • St John, St John's Street, built 1840[38]
  • St Peter, Hospital Road (district church; daughter church of St Mary's); built 1856-58[43]

Non-Conformist Churches and chapels[edit]

Catholic church[edit]

Main article:St Edmund's Catholic Church, Bury St Edmunds

St Edmund's Catholic Church,located in Westgate Street, is the Roman Catholic parish church of Bury St Edmunds. Founded by theJesuitsin 1763, the present church building isgrade II listed.It was built in 1837. It is administered by theDiocese of East Angliain its Bury St Edmunds deanery.

Former churches[edit]

Bury St Edmunds has several former church and chapel buildings:

  • Methodist Chapel, 4A St Mary's Square (converted to residential)[58]
  • Rehoboth Strict Baptist Chapel, Out Westgate (now called Chapel House)[59][60]
  • Victory Congregational Chapel, Northgate Street (converted to commercial)[61][62]
  • Chapel, St Botolph's Lane (now called Old Mission House)[63]

Culture[edit]

Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmundsexterior.

TheTheatre Royalwas built byNational GalleryarchitectWilliam Wilkinsin 1819 and is the sole survivingRegencyTheatre in the country.[64]The theatre, owned by theGreene Kingbrewery, is leased to theNational Trustfor a nominal charge, and underwent restoration between 2005 and 2007. It presents a full programme of performances and is also open for public tours. In August 2023, the Theatre Royal closed suddenly due to fire safety issues.[65] An additional arts venue, The Apex, was built on the site of the former cattle market in 2010.[66]

Moyse's Hall Museumis one of the oldest (c. 1180) domestic buildings in East Anglia open to the public. It has collections of fine art, for exampleMary Beale,costume, e.g.Charles Frederick Worth,horology,local and social history, includingWitchcraft.[67] It holds an originaldeath maskof William Corder who was hanged for the infamous 1827Red Barn murder.

TheMarket Cross,today a community space, is a building restored byRobert Adamin 1780s.[68]Between 1972 and 2018 the Market Cross was an art gallery called "Smiths Row", hosting a programme of changing contemporary art and craft exhibitions and events by British and international artists.[69]

The town holds several festivals a year. The largest festival is held in May and includes concerts, plays, dance, and lecturers culminating in fireworks. There was an annual Christmas Fair in the town up until 2019, with food, drink, local crafts and fairground rides available, stretching from the Abbey Gardens to the Arc Shopping Centre. Bury St Edmunds is home to England's oldest Scout group,1st Bury St Edmunds (Mayors Own).

Sport[edit]

The town's mainfootballclub,Bury Town,is the fourth oldestnon-leagueteam in England. They are members of theIsthmian Leagueand have played at Ram Meadow since moving fromKings Roadin the 1970s.[70]

Suffolk County Cricket Clubplay occasional games at the Victory Ground, which is also the home ground ofBury St Edmunds Cricket Club.The cricket club previously played atCemetry Road.Bury St Edmunds Rugby Football Club has an extensive history,[71]including the devastatingplane crashthat killed several members who had attended a1974 Five Nations Championshipmatch. Eastgate Amateur Bo xing club was established in 1981. The club has been headquartered at various locations in and around the town, but are now training in an old World War I gym in Rougham. West Suffolk Swimming Club formed in 1998 from the merger of two local swimming clubs and operates from pools in Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill and Culford. West Suffolk Athletics Club are based at the West Suffolk College sports ground.[72]

Media[edit]

Local news and television programmes is provided byBBC EastandITV Anglia.Television signals are received from theTacolnestonTV transmitter and the local relay transmitter.[73]The town’s local radio stations areBBC Radio Suffolkon 104.6 FM,Heart Easton 96.4 FM andRWSfmon 103.3 FM, a community radio station that broadcast from the town. The local newspapers are theEast Anglian Daily TimesandBury Free Press.

Public houses[edit]

Many pubs in the town have closed over the years, but the town still has a variety of pubs[74][75]

  • Beerhouse, 1 Tayfen Road (formerly Ipswich Arms)[76]
  • Bushell, St John's Street (formerly Rose)
  • Corn Exchange(Wetherspoons)
  • Dog and Partridge, 29 Crown Street[77]
  • Dove, 68 Hospital Road
  • Fox, 1 Eastgate Street
  • Greyhound, 28 Eastgate Street
  • Grapes, 1 Brentgovel Street
  • Greengage, Tollgate Lane
  • King's Arms, 22 Brentgovel Street
  • Macebearer, Home Farm Lane
  • Mason's Arms, Whiting Street (formerly Bricklayers' Arms)
  • Moreton Hall, Orttewell Road
  • Nutshell,The Traverse, claims to be the smallest pub in Britain
  • One Bull, 17 Angel Hill (formerly Black Bull)
  • Queen's, 39 Churchgate Street (formerly Queen's Head)
  • Rose and Crown, Whiting Street
  • Spread Eagle, Out Westgate
  • The Linden Tree, Station Hill (formerly Great Eastern and The Station)
  • The Old Cannon Brewery, 86 Cannon Street
  • The Westgate, Guildhall Street (formerly The Black Boy)[78][79]
  • Tollgate, 142 Fornham Road

Local economy[edit]

Angel Hotel located on Angel Hill
Dickens plaque at The Angel Hotel.

Tourism[edit]

The Angel Hotel is aGeorgianbuilding on Angel Hill.Charles Dickensstayed there while giving readings in theAthenaeum,as mentioned inThe Pickwick Papers.Angelina Joliestayed there while filmingTomb Raider.Acoaching innhas existed on the site since the 15th century.[80]

Brewing[edit]

Greene King,is situated in Bury St Edmunds, as is the smallerOld Cannon Brewery.Just outside the town, on the site ofRAF Bury St Edmunds,is Bartrums Brewery, originally based inThurston,and to the north is the Brewshed brewery, located in Ingham.

The Greene King pubThe Nutshellis situated in the centre of the town, and is one of several that claim to be Britain's smallestpublic house.[81]

Sugar beet[edit]

Bury's largest landmark is theBritish Sugarfactory near theA14,which processessugar beetinto refined crystal sugar. It was built in 1925 when the town's MP,Walter Guinness,wasMinister of Agriculture,and for many of its early years was managed by Martin Neumann, former manager of a sugar beet refinery inŠurany,then part ofCzechoslovakia.Neumann was invited by the British government to oversee the refinement of sugar in Bury St Edmunds and, with his family, immigrated to the United Kingdom. The actor and writerStephen Fryis a grandson of Martin Neumann, as recounted in the BBC programmeWho Do You Think You Are?

The refinery processes beet from 1,300 growers. 660 lorry-loads of beet can be accepted each day when beet is being harvested. Not all the beet can be crystallised immediately, and some is kept in solution in holding tanks until late spring and early summer, when the plant has spare crystallising capacity. The sugar is sold under theSilver Spoonname (the other major British brand,Tate & Lyle,is made from importedsugar cane). By-products include molassed sugar beet feed for cattle and LimeX70, a soil improver. The factory has its own power station,[82]which powers around 110,000 homes. A smell of burnt starch from the plant is noticeable on some days.[83]

Governance[edit]

Parish level[edit]

The town council was formed in 2003.[84]The election on 3 May 2007 was won by the "Abolish Bury Town Council" party.[85]The party lost its majority following a by-election in June 2007 and, to date, the town council is still in existence.[86] In March 2008 a further by-election put Conservatives in control but in the council election of May 2011 the lack of Conservative and other parties' candidates resulted a Labour majority before the election was held.[87]By 2013 a number of by-elections put Conservatives in control again[88]and in the 2015 election Conservatives won 14 of the 17 vacancies.[89]In 2020 it was announced that the town council would meet in the Guildhall, the historic home of the borough council between 1606 and 1966.[90]

District level[edit]

Bury St Edmunds has been part of the non-metropolitan districtWest Suffolksince April 2019.[91]Before April 2019 Bury St Edmunds was part of the district and borough ofSt Edmundsburywhich in turn was created in April 1974 as a result of the merger of several smaller districts, including the Borough of Bury St Edmunds which had been established in 1835.[92]This led to the loss of the town'sborough statuswhich had been held since 1606.[93]Nocharter trusteeshave taken on the charter.

West Suffolk Council has offices in Bury St Edmunds at West Suffolk House, Western Way.[94]

County level[edit]

Main article:Suffolk County Council

Bury St Edmunds has been in the unified county ofSuffolksince April 1974.[92]Previously the town had been part of the county ofWest Suffolkof which Bury St Edmunds was the county town. The county of West Suffolk had been established in 1889.[95]

Since 2009, Suffolk County Council has its Bury St Edmunds offices at West Suffolk House.[96]

Parliamentary constituency[edit]

Main article:Bury St Edmunds (UK Parliament constituency)

Bury St Edmunds is also the main town of the Westminster parliamentary constituency also namedBury St Edmunds.Since becoming a single-seat constituency in 1885 it has always returnedConservativeMPs. The current representative,Jo Churchill,was first elected in the 2015 general election.[97]

Notable people[edit]

The Abbeygate, a local symbol of the town

Notable people from Bury St Edmunds includeBishop of WinchesterandLord High Chancellor of EnglandStephen Gardiner,[98]the 18th-century landscape architectHumphry Repton,[99]the hymn writerAlice Flowerdew,the artist and photographerWilliam Silas Spanton,the author Maria Louise Ramé (also known asOuida), the engineer and inventorHiram Codd,[100]the cyclistJames Moore,and the portrait painterRose Mead.More recent figures from the town include artist and printerSybil Andrews,artist and suffragetteHelen Margaret Spanton,CanadianWorld War IIgeneralGuy Simonds,Winston Churchill's secretaryElizabeth Nel,theatre directorSir Peter Hall,Norwich CityfootballerLiam Gibbs,Canadian journalist and authorRichard Gwyn,actorsBob Hoskins[101]andMichael Maloney,[102]speedway riderDanny Ayres,[103][104]television presenterBecky Jago,digital writer and artistChris Joseph,and writer/directorAdrian Tanner.

Thomas Clarkson,a leadingabolitionist,lived in the town for parts of his life. Though born inBedford,actorJohn Le Mesuriergrew up in the town.[105]Sir James Reynolds, junior,Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer,lived in the town for much of his life and was buried in the Cathedral in 1739.Messenger Monsey,later physician to theRoyal Hospital Chelseaand a man notorious in London society for his bad manners, practised in Bury in the 1720s.[106]Children's writerA.M. Howellmoved to Bury St Edmunds in 2001.[107]

Notable bands and performers from Bury St Edmunds includeJacob's Mouse,Miss Black America,The Dawn ParadeandKate JacksonofThe Long Blondes.

Among notable people who have chosen to retire to or have second homes in Bury St Edmunds are former members of parliament and government ministersLord Tebbit,[108]Sir John Wheeler,[109]SirEldon Griffiths,[110][111]and former seniorRoyal Air Forcecommander,Air Marshal Sir Reginald Harland.[112]

Education[edit]

Primary and secondary[edit]

State-fundedprimary schoolsthat serve the town are Howard, Westgate, Hardwick, Sebert Wood, Abbot's Green, Sexton's Manor, Guildhall Feoffment, St Edmund's, St Edmundsbury and Tollgate Primary Schools.

The town has foursecondary schools:Bury St Edmunds County High School,King Edward VI School,St Benedict's Catholic Schooland Sybil Andrews Academy.[113]

In 2019 the town's firstSixth Form College,Abbeygate Sixth Form College, opened. It is located on Beeton's Way. Upon its opening, King Edward VI School has closed its Sixth Form provision.[114]

The closestpublic school(for a period post-war, aDirect grant grammar school) to the town isCulford School,located just north of the town in the village ofCulford.The town has one independent preparatory school, South Lee School. The formerMoreton Hall Preparatory Schoolclosed in 2020.[115]

Higher and further[edit]

The town's largestfurther educationprovider isWest Suffolk College,with over 10,000 students studying with the college every year.[116]The college was set to expand in September 2018, following a £7m government grant to help pay for an £8m energy, engineering and manufacturing teaching centre.[117]From 2015, students have been able to study foundation and undergraduate degrees at theUniversity of Suffolk at West Suffolk College.[118]

Transport[edit]

Bury St Edmunds railway stationserves the town, operated byGreater Anglia,on theIpswich to Ely Line.Trains run seven days a week, every two hours to Peterborough and hourly toIpswichandCambridge.Trains fromPeterboroughcontinue to Ipswich after Bury St Edmunds. Onward train connections fromCambridgelink withLondon King's Cross,London Liverpool StreetandStansted Airport,whilstIpswichprovides connections to Liverpool Street viaColchester.

The main interchange for bus and coach services for Bury St Edmunds is the bus and coach station, located on St Andrews Street North in the town centre. Bus services link the town centre with the main residential housing areas of the town. From November 2012 Sunday bus services were introduced over some of these routes. There are regular bus services to the neighbouring towns ofBrandon,Cambridge,Diss,Haverhill,Ipswich,Mildenhall,Newmarket,Stowmarket,SudburyandThetfordand many of the villages in between. DailyNational Expresscoach services betweenVictoria Coach Stationin London and Bury stop at the town's bus and coach station, as does the cross-country service betweenClacton-on-SeaandLiverpoolwhich travels via Cambridge, Peterborough,Leicester,Nottingham,SheffieldandManchester.

Twin towns[edit]

Affiliations[edit]

Literature[edit]

Bury St Edmunds is a location mentioned several times in the short ghost storyThe Ash-treebyM.R. Jamespublished inGhost Stories of an Antiquaryin 1904.

AuthorNorah Lofts,though born inShipdham,Norfolk, bases many of her stories in Baildon, a fictionalised Bury St Edmunds, where she was educated and lived.[120]

Arms[edit]

Coat of arms of Bury St Edmunds
Notes
Granted 29 November 1606
Crest
On a wreath of the colours a wolf sejant Proper holding a king's head couped at the neck of the last crowned Or.
Escutcheon
Azure three open crowns Or each transfixed with two arrows in saltire [points downward] Argent.
Motto
Sacrarium Regis Cunabula Legis (The Shrine Of The King And The Cradle Of The Law)[121]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Town Population 2011".Neighbourhood Statistics.Office for National Statistics. Archived fromthe originalon 20 December 2016.Retrieved18 August2016.
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