Bury St Edmunds | Suffolk Market Town | Dallaswear

Bury St Edmunds Suffolk

Bury St Edmunds is one of our favourite “Day out” destinations from our base in London, being just 63 miles away. It’s easy to get to if driving and also has good rail connections from London Kings Cross and London Liverpool Street.

Bury St Edmunds is a beautiful and historic market town in the county of Suffolk. It’s probably most well known for the ruined Abbey situated close to the town centre. The Abbey of St Edmund was, in Medieval times, one of the biggest and most powerful Benedictine monasteries in all of England. Pilgrims from across Europe flocked to the shrine of England’s first Patron Saint, Saint Edmund. Indeed, this is how the town came to be named Bury St Edmund.

The Abbey is surrounded by amazingly well-maintained flower gardens, the perfect place for a picnic. We always visit on market day, Wednesday or Saturday, so that we can have a nice slow walk through the market and select the ingredients for a delicious picnic lunch to be enjoyed in the tranquil Abbey Gardens. The gardens have a children’s play area, lots of open space, plenty of benches to sit on in the shade or sunshine depending on your preference and a kiosk with seating providing drinks, snacks and ice cream. Next to the kiosk is a charming aviary with a variety of birds which is popular with old and young alike. These stunning award-winning gardens, covering an area of 14 acres, are visited annually by 1.3 million people from all over the world.

For those interested in history Bury St Edmunds is a fascinating place to visit. A couple of snippets to give you a flavour of the place include the following; Edward the Confessor granted the Abbey the power to mint its own coinage and the Abbey had an important part to play in the famous Magna Carta story. In 1214 a group of Barons met in secret at the Abbey. They swore an oath to compel King John to accept the Charter of Liberties. This lead to the signing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215 which would help form the basis of the United States Constitution and the Human Rights Act as we know it today.

As I mentioned before, Bury as it is known locally, is a market town. Markets take place on Wednesday and Saturday and attract thousands of people each week. Saturday markets have more than eighty stalls while Wednesday markets have around sixty making it one of the most successful markets of its type in the country. The market has a long history dating back to the time before William the Conqueror. Food lovers love the market for the variety of

fresh seasonal, locally sourced products and a selection of food and drink from around the world. Other stalls provide everything imaginable from clothes, pottery and plants to colourful picked flowers. A farmers’ market is held on the second Sunday of each month and features honey, homemade pies, cakes, fudge and freshly baked local bread along side Suffolk pork, sauces, chutneys and traditional puddings.

The town has a lovely atmosphere and a feeling of community. Usually there are an array of festivals that take place throughout the year including the Bury St Edmunds Festival in May, the Whitsun Fayre also in May and the Food and Drink Festival in August. Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre with over three hundred stalls is an absolute favourite of ours. The atmosphere and setting is just fantastic! Unfortunately, all these events have been cancelled this year due to the dreadful Covid! Plans are in place for next year so let’s hope things can get back to normal by then. I have been to several of these events and thoroughly enjoyed them all.

Shopping in the town’s shops is also a pleasure. There are two hundred shops to explore. There are a good variety of shops lining the medieval streets and elegant Georgian Squares. Here you will find the more established chains mixed in with independent and boutique style shops. The modern Arc Shopping Centre is home to all the shops we all love so much including Debenhams, Hobbs, River Island, Fat Face etc.

The great thing about Bury St Edmunds is that everything is within walking distance. There are lots of lovely coffee shops for that café culture feel and a huge choice of restaurants.

Bury St Edmunds is also home to The Apex, a purpose built award-winning live entertainment venue featuring a theatre and gallery space that hosts live music ranging from classical, pop-rock, folk to jazz.

Confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records as being the smallest pub in Britain, The Nutshell’s bar measures just 15ft x 7ft. Located in the heart of the town, and opened in 1867, the Nutshell is a popular pub and has become a major tourist attraction.

Due to the ongoing Covid pandemic it is advisable to check any restrictions that may be in place before travelling. The purpose of this blog is to tell you about the beautiful places we have spent time in that may be of interest. I

hope you have enjoyed reading about Bury St Edmunds as much as I have enjoyed recalling my happy memories of previous visits.