Bury St Edmunds & Botesdale

Bury St Edmunds: Shrine of the King, Cradle of the Law

This is where I lived for a couple of years with my parents when I was about 13-14.

The town grew up around the Abbey of St Edmund in early medieval times. For five centuries it was visited by pilgrims from all over the world, coming to worship at the shrine of St Edmund - the martyred King of East Anglia. St Edmund was the patron saint of England until the dragon-slaying George took up the title in more militant times.

And for those of you paying attention in Nigel Jamieson's first year legal history lectures: It is said that at St Edmund's Altar in 1214 AD the barons reponsible for the Magna Carta met and swore an oath that they would force King John to accept the Charter of Liberties, which later became known as the Magna Carta.

We took a walk around the town and I discovered that not much has changed!! Although it was much quieter than I remembered. One of the more common developments around the world in the last 15 years has been the rise of the Starbuck - and unfortunately Bury St Edmunds is no different. Was great to have a wander around - but I'm sure that Hamish got sick of me saying "Ohh - that was where I...." We went into the shop that Mum used to work in called the Parsley Pot. They thought we were a bit freaky when we started taking photos and came out to check what was going on, so this photo's for you Mum:

At the bottom of Abbeygate Street:


A stroll through the beautiful Abbey gardens and ruins:




Botesdale
St Catherines: Our old house. Very old. I think it is about 600 years old and it used to be a monastery. When we moved in the villagers told us that it was also inhabited by a ghost, but we never saw any sign of that. Not much has changed there either, although I am sure that it used to be pink.

The village used to have three pubs in the space of about 200 metres. Hamblyn House has now closed, so now there are two within about 20 metres! This photos is taken looking down 'the street' from where Hamblyn House used to be. And yes, the street is actually named 'The Street'!