St Edmundsbury Cathedral

The cathedral church of St James and St Edmund is in the heart of the town of Bury St Edmunds. Bury St Edmunds is a town and not a city. There are no cities in the country of Suffolk. I’m not sure if Suffolk is unique in not having any cities but I wouldn’t be surprised.

The first parish church on the site was built in the 11th century, it was rebuilt in the 12th and again in the 16th century. It became a cathedral in 1914 and has been sympathetically expanded during the 20th century and early 21st century.

If you don’t know the history, you would believe that it’s a late medieval cathedral. The cathedral is set in beautiful gardens that owing to the heavy rain that was starting as I left the cathedral, I didn’t get a chance to explore.

There are no direct trains from London, a change in Ipswich is needed and the town center and cathedral are a 15-20 minute walk from the train station. There are busses and taxis if you don’t want to walk. The town center is very nice with a good mix of local shops and restaurants as well as some chains.

I visited the cathedral on a Friday and they have lunchtime concerts. On my visit, there was a local string quartet playing. We sat in the choir stalls to hear them, A couple of members of the audience nodded off during the delightful performance.

As I was leaving the cathedral, the forecasted heavy rain started and I decided to make my way back to the station. Despite Google maps. I did get lost on my way back to the station but arrived about 5 minutes before a train was due. Except it didn’t, without any explanation. The next one arrived on time.

Here are some photos of the cathedral.