About Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk

Bury St. Edmunds is a historic town in Suffolk, England. The town is situated on the River Lark, about 95 miles (153 km) north-northeast of London. It is in the county of Suffolk, in the East Anglia region. Bury St. Edmunds is the principal town of the Borough of St Edmundsbury, which covers an area of approximately 184 square miles (480 km2). The town has a population of about 36,000, which makes it the largest town in Suffolk outside of Ipswich.

Bury St. Edmunds was originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement called Beodericsworth, named after Saint Edmund, the first Christian martyr. The town grew rapidly after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 and was soon one of the largest towns in England. It was a prosperous market town and a centre for wool production. In the 12th century, it was made a royal borough by King Henry I and given its first charter by King John in 1214.

The town's Abbeygate Street is home to a number of historic buildings including the Abbey Gateway, which was built in the 13th century and is one of only four surviving medieval gateways in England. The gateway leads to the ruins of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey, a large Benedictine monastery which was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. The abbey church is now part of the parish church of St Mary's.

Bury St. Edmunds is also home to a number of other historic buildings and sites including the medieval Guildhall, Moyse's Hall Museum, the Theatre Royal, and Fornham Park. The town also has a number of parks and gardens including Abbey Gardens, Nowton Park, and West Stow Country Park.