BURY ST. EDMUNDS

Until we went to St. Edmundsbury Cathedral, I thought that Coventry was the newest. How wrong I was as we discovered on a tour of the Cathedral by Sarah first thing in the morning. A fellow camper at the site had said that he had not realised that one could get seasick driving the small roads around the area. This has one benefit, no sleeping policemen required, but we were too late for the 8.30 am service. Sarah gave us a wonderful tour of the cathedral including some vital history. St Edmund came from Germany and became King of the Angles, aged fifteen. Invading Vikings then shot him, with so many arrows that he resembled a hedgehog, killed him, and chopped off his head. His followers wanted to bury him and took three weeks to find his head, guarded between the paws of a wolf. This explains why Bury St Edmunds has several wolf and arrow symbols throughout the town. Edmund was responsible for miracles and achieved sainthood. He was the first Patron Saint of England before St George apparently. Sarah showed us the newest part of the cathedral a tower and chapel which had been built partly with money left by the architect. The stone was local limestone from a new seam at a previously medieval quarry in Barnack which had also provided the original stone for Ely and Peterborough.

The metal gates to the chapel were quite ornate and unbelievably came from maintenance hole covers which had been repainted.

The tower was finally completed in 2010. They are not sitting still but have permission to build a third side to the cloisters. We had coffee in the café, Sarah insisting that St Edmundsbury has a photo for their FB page and decided to return later for lunch. (The dogs are not normally allowed on knees at the table!)

The dogs were welcome everywhere and Kit gave extra points as there was a drinking bowl at the entrance and Scout sized treats given to her by the volunteers. We walked through the ruins of the abbey behind the cathedral, dissolved in 1539, and now a public park to walk along the river and through meadows. We saw Muntjac deer enjoying the grass and were informed by a local that the venison is sold in Bury butchers. Another lady that we encountered told us about an excellent sounding project in Bury called “Still Good Food” where for a small fee she gets a week's shopping including some lovely cut flowers that I admired which started our conversation. We also visited St Mary’s Church in Bury St Edmunds which has a fantastic hammer beam “Angel” Roof and the burial place of Mary Tudor, Queen of France, and Henry V111’s sister. At this rate we will have seen all the notable Tudor graves. Arriving back at the Cathedral we enjoyed a bite to eat and went to the Healing Eucharist Service. I had never been to one before and those for whom chose to be blessed looked cared for. Kit and Scout behaved so well that we decided to risk the lunchtime concert given by the San Diego choir. We sat at the back, the choir was wonderful, and the dogs enjoyed several biscuits! On to check out the shop. I must digress here a little as there seems to be a new trend in Cathedral Shopping appearing. Postcards are still available and any number of cards, tea, and biscuits. Jam is declining in popularity, but Gin is on trend. Being a Cathedral with a famous brewery virtually next-door St Edmundsbury also sells beer. It seemed only right that the backup team had the” Verger’s Reward “Beer bought for him.

Intriguingly there is a “Dean’s Undoing” too! The Dean was unavailable as he was at General Synod in York, but he had made sure we had such a warm welcome from Sarah. There is no charge to visit St Edmundsbury, dogs are allowed, and the cafe is great and toilets on site too.