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A History of Bury St Edmunds
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ISBN-13: 978-1860772276
Author: Frank Meeres
Published Date: 24-06-2024
Publisher: Phillimore & Co Ltd
A History of Bury St Edmunds Contents Page
A History of Bury St Edmunds Index Page
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| The small Saxon settlement of Bedricesworth was transformed when the body of Edmund, martyred king of the East Saxons, was brought here in the early 10th century. Around it grew up one of the largest abbeys in England and a new, planned town, the grid-iron pattern of which still survives. After the abbey was dissolved, Bury remained the heart of West Suffolk and was county town until 1974. The second half of the 20th century brought rapid growth, with new light industry and tourism supplementing the traditional trades. This briliiant combination of archaeological evidence with meticulous documentary research is well illustrated, resulting in a book that Bury has long needed. |
One
Beginnings
Bury St Edmunds is one of the few towns in England whose very name ties in to specific dates. Edmund was a Saxon king who was killed after a battle with Viking forces in the year AD
869. His body was buried at or near the battlefield. Later it was moved to a new site in a small town, which became a place of pilgrimage. A religious community looked after this shrine and developed into one of the richest and most powerful abbeys in England. A major settlement grew up around it: the town of Bury St Edmunds. This, however, is not the beginning of the story. George Burnell explains the geology of the area:
Bury is built upon a spur of the Chalk with water-courses upon two sides and one end, the latter being part of the valley of the Lark, and the others respectively the Linnet and the Tayfen streams. A kind of ridge passes through the town, and divides it into two portions, tolerably equal in their area, and these portions have a general inclination towards the water-courses on either side.
Alec Clifton-Taylor sums up the setting of Bury in his inimitable style: ‘how delightful to be built upon the banks of the Linnet and the Lark. It puts one in a good temper straight away, just to think of that.’ The rivers seem insignificant today, but in prehistoric times their marshy valleys would have been formidable barriers to communication and settlement.
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There were, of course, people living in Suffolk many thousands of years before the time of Saint Edmund. Archaeological evidence suggests that the north-west and south-east of the county were the most populated in Neolithic times, with the higher clay lands of the centre less inhabited. It is easy to exaggerate these relatively small differences, but it does seem to be the case that, from the earliest times, people in the north-west of Suffolk have looked north and west, while those in the south-east have looked south and east. The commonest type of Stone-Age axe in north-west Suffolk comes from the Lake District, whereas that found in south-east Suffolk comes from Cornwall. The cultural differences continue in the Early Bronze Age: the people of north-west Suffolk went in for both cremation and inhumation, those of south-east Suffolk exclusively favoured cremation. Many Bronze-Age round barrows can still be seen in the countryside around Bury.
A large sherd of Bronze-Age pottery was recently found in the soil between nos.
3 and 4 St Andrew’s Street South. ‘Prehistoric pottery tends to break down quickly in modern soil and the survival of a sherd weighing 77 grams is exceptional. The pottery could not have travelled far or been exposed for any length of time to ploughing or frost.’ Another trench off the same street uncovered flint from the early Bronze Age, together with Roman, Saxon and later pottery. In both cases the material survived because it had been protected by being within the soil of the medieval bank around Bury, which we shall refer to later.2
The two areas were within different tribal groupings in the Iron Age. South Suffolk belonged to the Trinovantes. North Suffolk, with Norfolk, was the area where the Iceni tribe lived at that time. Coin evidence suggests that Bury was at the southern fringe of the Iceni kingdom, but the precise boundary is not known, and probably fluctuated over the years.
A particular type of Iceni coin with a human head on one face and a horse on the other is especially common in the Bury area and at one time was thought to belong to a particular group of Iceni who became known as the ‘Bury tribe’. However, more of the coins have been found in recent years, scattered over a wider geographical area, and they are no longer thought to relate to a specific tribal group.
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There was an Iron-Age settlement at West Stow, defended by a series of curved ditches. Three small circular ditches containing post-holes were probably the sites of individual houses, although the presence of grave-shaped pits within two of them suggests that this may not have been their purpose. Animal bones have been found on the site, mainly of cattle, with a fair quantity of sheep and smaller numbers of pig and horse. The animals were typical of those found on Iron-Age sites, much smaller than those of today. Further north, at Barnham, an enclosure surrounded by a double ditch also dates from the Iron Age. Finds included the jaws of horses and an articulated human leg: this was probably a religious site rather than a settlement.
West Stow is also a probable site where coins were minted. Some
Under their queen Boudicca the Iceni rebelled against Roman rule and destroyed Colchester before being eventually defeated. The major Roman settlement after this was at Caistor in Norfolk, but Roman roads ran through Suffolk and there were villas: however, no evidence of Roman occupation has yet been found at Bury. Some of the later Romans were Christian and one of the most interesting proofs of this is at Icklingham, just north of Bury. The remains have been found here of a late Roman Christian church: this had a baptistery with a lead tank used for performing baptisms – the Christian CHI-RO monograms on it prove that this was a Christian site not a pagan one.
The Romans left, in many cases apparently hoping to return. Two well-known hoards of treasure of this period have been found in Suffolk. The Mildenhall Treasure, found during ploughing at West Row in
As the Romans left, so the Saxons arrived. East Anglia was a Saxon kingdom but infuriatingly little is known of it. The only written evidence is a list of the names of kings. However the kingdom has left archaeological evidence in the form of one of the richest Saxon finds in England: Sutton Hoo. This was the burial centre of the kings of the Wuffinga family. This Saxon family clearly looked toward Sweden as they practised the ritual of burying their dead in longboats, a practice only known in that country. There are two such burials known in Suffolk – one at Snape, dating from the second half of the sixth century, and the more famous one at Sutton Hoo. Here there is a series of burial mounds. The richest contained a longboat and treasure: this was discovered in
20,000 Iceni coins are known, of about 65 different types. It is interesting to question what their actual purpose was. Most exchanges in society would presumably be conducted by bartering and in any case the coins are too valuable for day-to-day use: all are silver or gold; no bronze coins are known. They may have been used as bullion, and perhaps also for ritual purposes: coins are often found on temple sites.1942, is thought to have been hidden in the 360s – and to have come perhaps from a temple to Bacchus. In 1992, another treasure hoard was found, this time at Hoxne. It consisted of over 14,000 coins, with gold and silver jewellery and silver spoons, in a chest. Many of the coins can be dated: the latest are from the year 407-8, so the hoard may belong to one of the last of the old Roman families leaving the county. This archaeological evidence ties in neatly with the documentary record. The historian Zozimus and the source known as the Gallic Chronicle tell us that Britain was devastated by the Saxons between AD 408 and 410.1939. 4
No body was found in the grave. However, more recent work on the site has concluded that there was a body once: it has completely disappeared, due to the acid nature of the soil. We will probably never know for sure, but the grave could well be that of Raedwald, the most powerful of the Saxon kings of East Anglia, and the only one of them to have the title of Bretwalda, or ‘head-king’ among the rulers of the kingdoms within Britain. Raedwald died in about AD
Although a ship burial is an emphatically pagan ritual, two baptismal spoons were found among the treasures within the grave. If the tomb was indeed Raedwald’s, the spoons may reflect the ambiguity of his attitude to Christianity: he was baptised under the influence of King Ethelbert of Kent but appears never to have renounced the old Norse gods.
The Saxons founded towns in the county, most noticeably Ipswich. A town called Bedricesworth (presumably founded by a Saxon named Bedric) developed on the river Lark, on the site of the town now known as Bury St Edmunds. It may still be possible to make out part of the outline of this early Saxon town. It probably centred on the place where the streets later called Northgate and Eastgate meet. Excavations on the Bowling Green north of St James’ church did indeed discover a road running north/south, which must pre-date the building of the abbey precinct. The later abbey and town have obliterated the area.
The streets further south
As Bury has expanded rapidly in the later
625.could preserve the pattern of the oldest town, with the curve of Maynewater Lane possibly representing its south-western boundary. Pottery of the type called Ipswich ware, dating from the seventh to ninth centuries, has been found within the precinct and west of Southgate Street. The name Mustow Street may be significant too, as the street-name implies a meeting-place: this could be the place in the early Saxon town where the inhabitants gathered. The pre-Conquest market was probably on Saint Mary’s Square, called the old market in a charter of 1250 and other documents from the 14th century: however, no archaeological evidence has yet turned up to prove this conjecture.20th century, building work has resulted in several interesting archaeological finds, in the shape of Saxon burials. Three or four Saxon cemeteries are now known. In 1955 the skeleton of an Anglo-Saxon warrior with his spear was found at Northumberland Avenue: this dates from the sixth to the eighth centuries. Further skeletons from the Saxon period were found some years later by builders erecting a house in nearby Tollgate Lane. In July 1972 a skull, some bones and a brooch were taken to Moyse’s Hall. They had been found while a trench for a gas main was being dug at Westgarth Gardens, on the southern bank of the Linnet. Most of the houses on the estate had already been put up, but the developers allowed the site of two as yet unbuilt houses on Saxon Way to be excavated: four cremations and 65 inhumations were found. 5
Objects found in the graves included swords, glass vessels, brooches and an iron-bound bucket. They dated from the fifth to the seventh centuries. The other burials found were also of the sixth and seventh centuries, at Barons Road and Hardwick Road. These two sites are about
The first Christian king of the Saxons of East Anglia was Sigebert, who was brought up in France and had converted to Christianity there. He welcomed the Frenchman Felix when he was sent by Honorius, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in order to convert the East Anglians to Christianity. Felix became the first Bishop of East Anglia, probably based at Walton Castle, just north of Felixstowe, which is presumably named after him. Sigebert also brought the Irish monk Fursey and his brother Foillan to his kingdom, so that both Continental and Celtic Christianity were present in Saxon East Anglia. The brothers set up a monastery, almost certainly within the walls of the Roman fort at Burgh Castle.
Sigebert took his Christianity seriously: in
Almost nothing is known of the history of the Kingdom of East Anglia over the next two hundred years, until it emerged from obscurity through the personality of its most famous king, Edmund. In the year
500 metres apart, so they could possibly be two parts of the same large cemetery, but are more likely to be two separate cemeteries. There must have been villages, or at least farmsteads, associated with these graves, but no evidence of them has yet turned up. The recreated village at West Stow gives a vivid impression of what these Saxon houses would have looked like.630 he apparently founded a monastery at Bedricesworth, to which he intended to retire. He did so briefly, but when the pagan Mercians, led by King Penda, invaded the kingdom, he was brought out of retirement to lead an army against them. True to his Christian principles, he entered the fray armed only with a wand. He was killed and his army slaughtered.794 King Offa of Mercia had the East Anglian king, Ethelbert, assassinated, plunging the kingdom into chaos. As the historian William of Malmesbury wrote, ‘After King Ethelbert few reigned with any authority up to the time of St Edmund owing to the violence of the Mercians.’
Saint Edmund
The story of St Edmund, King and Martyr, has become so enmeshed in legend that it will probably never be possible to sort fact from fiction. In a way the legend is as important as the truth, for it tells how the people of Bury – and of England – in the Middle Ages thought of Edmund, and why he was at one time the most highly venerated saint in the land.
According to legend, Edmund’s predecessor as king was someone called Offa (not the Offa of Mercia already mentioned, but a different person of the same name). He had no heirs. He decided to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land (not an uncommon act for a Saxon king). On his journey he stayed with the king of Saxony, whose name is given as Alkmund in some strands of the legend. This king had two sons and Offa decided to adopt the younger, Edmund, as his heir. He then continued on his pilgrimage and successfully reached the Holy Land. However, he died on the return journey, near the Dardanelles. His followers returned to Saxony to let Edmund know that he was now king. He came back with them to claim his kingdom, landing (the legend says) at Hunstanton – the place is still known as St Edmund’s Point, and a chapel there is dedicated to the saint. He was crowned at Bures on Christmas Day in the year
Even legend has almost nothing to say about the first fourteen years of Edmund’s reign, but it has plenty to say about the end of it. The Viking invaders landed in
MacKinlay summarises the next part of the story in vivid prose:
855.865, attacking first Northumbria and then Mercia. They came to East Anglia in 869 and met Edmund’s army in battle. The English were defeated and the king was captured with some of his followers including his bishop, Humbert. Edmund refused to renounce his Christian faith, was scourged, tied to a tree and shot with arrows, and finally beheaded.
St Edmund’s head they kept, so that they might revenge themselves still further on the tongue which had so constantly sounded the name of Christ. The saint’s characteristic sweetness, fixed on every feature of the pale face, touched no human chord in Hingwar or Hubba’s breast [These are the names legend gives to the Viking leaders]. They tossed the sacred head of their conquered rival from one to another with savage delight. At last, tired with their inhuman plaything, they threw it outside the camp.
Later they threw the head into the forest, deliberately hiding it so that the Saxons would be unable to give their king a Christian burial.
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When the Danes had moved on, the Saxons emerged from hiding. They found the body of the king where it lay, but where was the head? MacKinlay continues the story:
Had the prowling wolves desecrated or devoured it? With these thoughts in their mind they anxiously sought for their missing treasure under the gaunt bare trees throughout the whole day. When the shades of evening fell, they signalled to each other by shouts or blasts of horns, so that every inch of ground might be examined without being traversed twice. Suddenly in the gloom they heard the voice of their sovereign crying ‘Here, Here, Here’. They stood still in astonishment, and then hurried to the spot whither the voice still summoned them. And behold, in a dark glade of the wood, a strange sight arrested their steps. Under the shadows of the trees a huge grey wolf crouched motionless, and between its paws rested the king’s head, placid and unharmed. As they ran up the wolf gently retired, as if its duty had ceased.
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The wolf is a key component of the story. Houghton adopts a rationalist approach, suggesting that perhaps it was actually a wolfhound belonging to Edmund, and that the cries heard were in fact its howls on finding the head of its master. This is an ingenious theory but does not reflect the way that people would have thought in the Middle Ages. The whole point of the story is the conquering power of Christ, through Edmund, over the forces of darkness and savagery. The image caught the imagination, and is a very common one in medieval art, where the head of a king with a wolf (sometimes just the head of the wolf is depicted) says to the viewer, with no need of any words, this is Edmund, King and Martyr.
Where did the battle take place? Where did Edmund die? Where was his body first buried? There are several possible answers to these questions and we need to look at the evidence. The first two references to Edmund come from sources written twenty or thirty years after his death, both probably in the West Country. They are the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Asser’s Life of King Alfred. They confirm the facts but do not give any place-names. The Chronicle records:
Here the raiding-army went across Mercia into East Anglia, and took winter quarters at Thetford; and in that year St Edmund the king fought against them, and the Danish took the victory, and killed the king and conquered all that land, and did for all the monasteries to which they came.
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Asser’s
Life was probably written in 893. He writes:
In the same year Edmund, king of the East Angles, fought fiercely against that army [the Vikings]. But alas, he was killed there with a large number of his men, and the Vikings rejoiced triumphantly, and they subjected that entire province to their authority.
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The first writer to give us the actual place of the battle was Abbo of Fleury, writing some
What does Abbo actually say about the battle? He tells us:
116 or so years after the event, in about 985 to 987. (Despite his name, Abbo was actually a monk at Canterbury at the time. He is called ‘of Fleury’ because he was later abbot there: he was murdered on 13 November 1004 and he is himself honoured in many churches as a martyr.) Abbo is very keen to show us that his information is reliable. He informs us that Edmund’s arrow-bearer had been an eyewitness to the king’s last moments. This man lived to be old and to retell the story at the court of King Athelstan. Dunstan, later to be Archbishop of Canterbury but then quite young, heard the story and was moved to tears. Three years before his own death, Dunstan repeated what he had heard to Abbo, who then wrote it down in his book. This chain of events is just possible if the arrow bearer lived fifty years or more after the event. Dunstan could have heard the story in the 920s or early 930s (he was born in the year 909): he told it to Abbo and others in 985.
Edmund, it happened, was at that time, staying some distance from the city [URBE], in a township which in the native language is called HAEGELISDUN, from which the neighbouring forest is called by the same name.
He describes the battle and Edmund’s death at great length and goes on:
The head, which had been anointed not with the oil of sinners but with the sacramental chrism of mystery, was carried by them as they retired into a wood, the name of which is HAGLESDUN, and was thrown by them as far as possible among the dense thickets of brambles, and so hidden.
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That is the first record of the place of Edmund’s death. For the name of the place where he was buried we have to wait a further hundred years. Herman of Bury wrote his
Life of St Edmund in about 1095. Like Abbo he is keen to stress the source of his information, although he is much less precise than Abbo. He does not tell us where the battle took place but says that after Edmund died:
He was entombed, as we are certified by the tradition of our elders, in a little village named SUTHTUNE close to the scene of his martyrdom, since, in view of the scathing pressure of a violent persecution, none of his subjects ventured to remove his body to any place of importance. There, accordingly, the saint reposed, and over his body was maintained an exceedingly diminutive bede-house, until by degrees the bitter persecution of the Danes cooled down, and the place which God’s providence had designated as most worthy of his martyr was revealed [meaning, of course, the town now called Bury St Edmunds].
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The question is whether weight can be given to information set down so long after the event. I believe it can: in an era when writing was uncommon people were far more used to committing facts to memory than we are today. It is generally accepted, for example, that the Gospels were not written down for at least half a century after the death of Jesus, but that many of the sayings they attribute to him were indeed spoken by him. The questions then become: where is Haegelistun? Where is Suthtune?
The simplest explanation of Haegelistun is that it is Hellesdon, outside Norwich in Norfolk. This is the place that sounds most like it, and is also a short way from the city – or
There have been some new theories in the
urbe – of Norwich. Many people do favour this idea: however, there has never been any tradition within Hellesdon that the battle took place here. Tradition has long associated the battle with Hoxne in Suffolk, although the name is not at all like Haegelistun. The earliest known reference to Hoxne as the place of the king’s death comes in a charter of 1100-1101. In this charter, Bishop Herbert Losinga grants to the monks of Norwich Cathedral ‘the church of Hoxne with the chapel of Saint Edmund in the same village where the same martyr was slain’. Although this charter is of about the same date as Herman was writing it does not have quite the same weight as evidence. Herman was a Bury monk and steeped in the traditions of the abbey: Herbert had no connection with Bury.20th century. Sir Ernest Clarke favoured the Suffolk village called Halgestou in Domesday Book of 1086, later Holstow. Hervey thought this a possibility but plumped instead for Hollesley. These were both just guesses, although Hervey pointed out that Hollesley is adjacent to a place called Sutton (unfortunately there are very many places called Sutton). Another possibility came to light in the 1980s, when Stanley West pointed out that there is a field called Hellesden Ley (ley means meadow), marked on the 1843 tithe map for Bradfield St Clare. Just a mile to the south is Sutton Hall. David Dymond added weight to this argument by pointing out that not only were both pieces of land owned by Bury Abbey but that they are listed together in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535, as though there was a connection between them. If this argument is accepted, and it is a very strong one, then it is an excellent example of how our awareness of history is continually changing: the location of a battle that took place a thousand years earlier may have been finally identified by a chance look at a map.12
Within
The rapid growth of the popularity of the cult of St Edmund can be seen in the number of churches dedicated to him and in the frequency with which his image occurs in medieval religious art. There are over
In many cases, however, there was no connection with Bury. Edmund is portrayed simply because he was an extremely popular saint among the English: indeed, he could be called the patron saint of England before St George superseded him during the time of the Crusades. There are many examples of the use of his image in Norfolk and Suffolk alone, such as in glass at Long Melford, Outwell and Martham, on screens at Stalham, Nayland and Somerleyton, in stone on a carved roof-boss at Norwich Cathedral, in a wall-painting at Troston, and on a wooden chest at Denton (made from panels that were probably originally a screen).
The key moment in the history of the town of Bury St Edmunds occurred probably in the year
If the translation did take place in
In
Fresh pagan Viking raids began in the late tenth century and in
Edmund might have been dead
Canute, Swein’s son, became king of England in
The Archbishop of Canterbury consecrated the new church in
Canute, in a charter of
King Edward the Confessor visited the abbey in
The eight and a half hundreds given by Edward cover most of the western half of Suffolk. His charter can be seen as the origin of Bury’s influence in this part of the county, which led directly to it becoming the official capital of West Suffolk when that county came to be established over
King Edward made a further grant to the abbey in
The abbot of Bury from
25 years of his death, King Edmund was venerated as a martyr for the Christian faith. We have coin evidence to support this. Coins with Edmund’s names on them appear to have been minted from about 890. A hoard of coins found at Cuerdale in Lancashire, which is probably to be dated at 903, has over 1,800 coins bearing his name. We also know that as early as the tenth century his martyrdom was commemorated on 20 November, so this is almost certainly the exact day of his death.50 churches in England dedicated to St Edmund, including Southwold in Suffolk and Acle in Norfolk. His image is found in many medieval churches in a variety of forms – glass, wall paintings, rood screens and carvings. In some cases the building has an obvious connection with Bury and the abbey – there is an image of Edmund in the roof carving of St Mary’s in Bury, and a carving of his head and the wolf below a 15th-century window at Moyse’s Hall in the town. The church of St Laurence in Norwich, which was connected with Bury abbey, has a similar carving in the spandrel of the west door.903. The body of the saint was formally moved (the technical word is ‘translated’) from ‘Sutton’ to Bedricesworth and placed in a large church made of wood. The guardians of this shrine were not monks but secular priests: four priests and two deacons. (One writer, Herman, places the date of translation as being in the reign of King Athelstan, which would make it rather later: Athelstan reigned from 925 to 941.)903, it is clear that the threat posed by the pagan Vikings had not lasted very long. In fact place-name evidence suggests that Viking settlement in Suffolk was confined to the coast and the rivers. In any case the Danish leader, Guthrum, agreed in 878 to convert to Christianity. In 918 Edward the Elder, king of the West Saxons, conquered East Anglia and assimilated it into his kingdom. Bishops were re-established in East Anglia, at Hoxne and at North Elmham.945, Edmund, son of Edward the Elder, and presumably named in honour of the saint, gave land around Bedricesworth to the monastery. In the same year, Theodred II, Bishop of Elmham, opened the coffin and found Edmund’s body ‘whole and incorrupt’, according to Abbo. He placed it in a new wooden shrine.1010 the English were defeated at Ringmere Heath, near Thetford. This posed an obvious threat to the security of the shrine of St Edmund at Bury. The body of the saint is supposed to have been taken to London in 1010 by the guardian of the shrine, Ailwin, to prevent it being captured by the Danes – it remained there for three years before being returned to Bury.140 years but he was still capable of influencing events. The Viking leader, Swein, established himself in England. He demanded tax from the lands of the abbey. When Swein died suddenly before the money was paid, very many people attributed his death directly to the power of St Edmund. Swein was travelling from Gainsborough to Bury when he had a vision. According to William of Malmesbury, Edmund appeared to Swein and ‘complained mildly’ about the king’s treatment of the priests at Bury. When Swein gave him an insolent answer, Edmund ‘struck him on the head a blow from the power of which he shortly died’.1016. He was a Christian and appears to have believed in the power of the saint: he spent an enormous amount on establishing Bury as a great power. It was Canute who set up the monastery in Bury in 1020, and also had a new church built there. A community of 20 monks replaced the priests. A stone church was begun in the same year, with a rotunda to house the saint’s body.1032 and, in 1038, the body of St Edmund was moved into its new shrine within the church. The abbey was also given privileges within the important Saxon town of Thetford, ten miles to the north. A daughter-house of Bury was established there in the reign of Canute, probably also in about 1020. The abbey also owned an unnamed church in the town, according to the evidence of Domesday Book.1028, gave the abbey many rights including full jurisdiction within their township. The area of their power extended well beyond the town itself and was known as the banleuca. The power of the abbot of Bury within this area was so great that no clergyman could celebrate mass or erect an altar without his permission. Four large crosses – the Virgin’s Cross (also called Heye Cross or St Peter’s Cross), Eldhawe Cross, Black Cross and Weeping Cross – marked the boundaries of the banleuca. The base of the Virgin’s Cross still survives although not on its original site – it was moved nearer to Risbygate, at the corner with Chalk Lane, in the 17th century. The cavity in the top of the stone, which originally held the shaft of the cross, was then filled with vinegar in which coins would be washed in time of plague to prevent the spread of infection – hence it is now usually called the Plague Stone. Unfortunately, the stone has suffered from vandalism in the later 20th century and has had to be moved again: it now stands in front of West Suffolk College.1044 and gave them yet more privileges: the manor of Mildenhall and jurisdiction over eight full hundreds and one half-hundred in West Suffolk. Hundreds are a very ancient division of a county into smaller administrative units: the Suffolk hundreds go back to at least the tenth century, most taking their names from their original open-air meeting places. The hundred that surrounds Bury was called Thingoe, a name that will recur throughout this book. The Saxons held their hundred court on Thing Howe, the hill just to the north of the present railway station in Bury. The mound had a tumulus on its summit. This was excavated in 1880 and three burials found, but the excavation was very incomplete and did not reach the centre of the tumulus.800 years later.1065 permitting the establishment of a mint: this document is especially interesting, as it is the first known reference to the town under the name Saint Edmunds Bury (Biri in the charter).1045 was a monk called Leofstan. He had the temerity to open Edmund’s coffin to see if the head was indeed reunited to the body, as legend claimed. For this he received divine punishment – both his hands were immediately paralysed and he could not be cured. A direct result of this was that King Edward the Confessor sent his friend and personal physician, Baldwin, to try to cure Leofstan. Baldwin was a friend not only of Edward but also of William the Conqueror and thus straddles the division between Saxon and Norman England. Leofstan died in 1065: he was buried at the foot of St Edmund’s shrine. Baldwin was elected abbot and was to become the key figure in the development of the town and the abbey in Norman times, as described in the next chapter. |
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A History of Bury St Edmunds
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Price: £16.99
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ISBN-13: 978-1860772276
Author: Frank Meeres
Published Date: 24-06-2024
Publisher: Phillimore & Co Ltd
A History of Bury St Edmunds Contents Page
A History of Bury St Edmunds Index Page
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| The small Saxon settlement of Bedricesworth was transformed when the body of Edmund, martyred king of the East Saxons, was brought here in the early 10th century. Around it grew up one of the largest abbeys in England and a new, planned town, the grid-iron pattern of which still survives. After the abbey was dissolved, Bury remained the heart of West Suffolk and was county town until 1974. The second half of the 20th century brought rapid growth, with new light industry and tourism supplementing the traditional trades. This briliiant combination of archaeological evidence with meticulous documentary research is well illustrated, resulting in a book that Bury has long needed. |
One
Beginnings
Bury St Edmunds is one of the few towns in England whose very name ties in to specific dates. Edmund was a Saxon king who was killed after a battle with Viking forces in the year AD
869. His body was buried at or near the battlefield. Later it was moved to a new site in a small town, which became a place of pilgrimage. A religious community looked after this shrine and developed into one of the richest and most powerful abbeys in England. A major settlement grew up around it: the town of Bury St Edmunds. This, however, is not the beginning of the story. George Burnell explains the geology of the area:
Bury is built upon a spur of the Chalk with water-courses upon two sides and one end, the latter being part of the valley of the Lark, and the others respectively the Linnet and the Tayfen streams. A kind of ridge passes through the town, and divides it into two portions, tolerably equal in their area, and these portions have a general inclination towards the water-courses on either side.
Alec Clifton-Taylor sums up the setting of Bury in his inimitable style: ‘how delightful to be built upon the banks of the Linnet and the Lark. It puts one in a good temper straight away, just to think of that.’ The rivers seem insignificant today, but in prehistoric times their marshy valleys would have been formidable barriers to communication and settlement.
1
There were, of course, people living in Suffolk many thousands of years before the time of Saint Edmund. Archaeological evidence suggests that the north-west and south-east of the county were the most populated in Neolithic times, with the higher clay lands of the centre less inhabited. It is easy to exaggerate these relatively small differences, but it does seem to be the case that, from the earliest times, people in the north-west of Suffolk have looked north and west, while those in the south-east have looked south and east. The commonest type of Stone-Age axe in north-west Suffolk comes from the Lake District, whereas that found in south-east Suffolk comes from Cornwall. The cultural differences continue in the Early Bronze Age: the people of north-west Suffolk went in for both cremation and inhumation, those of south-east Suffolk exclusively favoured cremation. Many Bronze-Age round barrows can still be seen in the countryside around Bury.
A large sherd of Bronze-Age pottery was recently found in the soil between nos.
3 and 4 St Andrew’s Street South. ‘Prehistoric pottery tends to break down quickly in modern soil and the survival of a sherd weighing 77 grams is exceptional. The pottery could not have travelled far or been exposed for any length of time to ploughing or frost.’ Another trench off the same street uncovered flint from the early Bronze Age, together with Roman, Saxon and later pottery. In both cases the material survived because it had been protected by being within the soil of the medieval bank around Bury, which we shall refer to later.2
The two areas were within different tribal groupings in the Iron Age. South Suffolk belonged to the Trinovantes. North Suffolk, with Norfolk, was the area where the Iceni tribe lived at that time. Coin evidence suggests that Bury was at the southern fringe of the Iceni kingdom, but the precise boundary is not known, and probably fluctuated over the years.
A particular type of Iceni coin with a human head on one face and a horse on the other is especially common in the Bury area and at one time was thought to belong to a particular group of Iceni who became known as the ‘Bury tribe’. However, more of the coins have been found in recent years, scattered over a wider geographical area, and they are no longer thought to relate to a specific tribal group.
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There was an Iron-Age settlement at West Stow, defended by a series of curved ditches. Three small circular ditches containing post-holes were probably the sites of individual houses, although the presence of grave-shaped pits within two of them suggests that this may not have been their purpose. Animal bones have been found on the site, mainly of cattle, with a fair quantity of sheep and smaller numbers of pig and horse. The animals were typical of those found on Iron-Age sites, much smaller than those of today. Further north, at Barnham, an enclosure surrounded by a double ditch also dates from the Iron Age. Finds included the jaws of horses and an articulated human leg: this was probably a religious site rather than a settlement.
West Stow is also a probable site where coins were minted. Some
Under their queen Boudicca the Iceni rebelled against Roman rule and destroyed Colchester before being eventually defeated. The major Roman settlement after this was at Caistor in Norfolk, but Roman roads ran through Suffolk and there were villas: however, no evidence of Roman occupation has yet been found at Bury. Some of the later Romans were Christian and one of the most interesting proofs of this is at Icklingham, just north of Bury. The remains have been found here of a late Roman Christian church: this had a baptistery with a lead tank used for performing baptisms – the Christian CHI-RO monograms on it prove that this was a Christian site not a pagan one.
The Romans left, in many cases apparently hoping to return. Two well-known hoards of treasure of this period have been found in Suffolk. The Mildenhall Treasure, found during ploughing at West Row in
As the Romans left, so the Saxons arrived. East Anglia was a Saxon kingdom but infuriatingly little is known of it. The only written evidence is a list of the names of kings. However the kingdom has left archaeological evidence in the form of one of the richest Saxon finds in England: Sutton Hoo. This was the burial centre of the kings of the Wuffinga family. This Saxon family clearly looked toward Sweden as they practised the ritual of burying their dead in longboats, a practice only known in that country. There are two such burials known in Suffolk – one at Snape, dating from the second half of the sixth century, and the more famous one at Sutton Hoo. Here there is a series of burial mounds. The richest contained a longboat and treasure: this was discovered in
20,000 Iceni coins are known, of about 65 different types. It is interesting to question what their actual purpose was. Most exchanges in society would presumably be conducted by bartering and in any case the coins are too valuable for day-to-day use: all are silver or gold; no bronze coins are known. They may have been used as bullion, and perhaps also for ritual purposes: coins are often found on temple sites.1942, is thought to have been hidden in the 360s – and to have come perhaps from a temple to Bacchus. In 1992, another treasure hoard was found, this time at Hoxne. It consisted of over 14,000 coins, with gold and silver jewellery and silver spoons, in a chest. Many of the coins can be dated: the latest are from the year 407-8, so the hoard may belong to one of the last of the old Roman families leaving the county. This archaeological evidence ties in neatly with the documentary record. The historian Zozimus and the source known as the Gallic Chronicle tell us that Britain was devastated by the Saxons between AD 408 and 410.1939. 4
No body was found in the grave. However, more recent work on the site has concluded that there was a body once: it has completely disappeared, due to the acid nature of the soil. We will probably never know for sure, but the grave could well be that of Raedwald, the most powerful of the Saxon kings of East Anglia, and the only one of them to have the title of Bretwalda, or ‘head-king’ among the rulers of the kingdoms within Britain. Raedwald died in about AD
Although a ship burial is an emphatically pagan ritual, two baptismal spoons were found among the treasures within the grave. If the tomb was indeed Raedwald’s, the spoons may reflect the ambiguity of his attitude to Christianity: he was baptised under the influence of King Ethelbert of Kent but appears never to have renounced the old Norse gods.
The Saxons founded towns in the county, most noticeably Ipswich. A town called Bedricesworth (presumably founded by a Saxon named Bedric) developed on the river Lark, on the site of the town now known as Bury St Edmunds. It may still be possible to make out part of the outline of this early Saxon town. It probably centred on the place where the streets later called Northgate and Eastgate meet. Excavations on the Bowling Green north of St James’ church did indeed discover a road running north/south, which must pre-date the building of the abbey precinct. The later abbey and town have obliterated the area.
The streets further south
As Bury has expanded rapidly in the later
625.could preserve the pattern of the oldest town, with the curve of Maynewater Lane possibly representing its south-western boundary. Pottery of the type called Ipswich ware, dating from the seventh to ninth centuries, has been found within the precinct and west of Southgate Street. The name Mustow Street may be significant too, as the street-name implies a meeting-place: this could be the place in the early Saxon town where the inhabitants gathered. The pre-Conquest market was probably on Saint Mary’s Square, called the old market in a charter of 1250 and other documents from the 14th century: however, no archaeological evidence has yet turned up to prove this conjecture.20th century, building work has resulted in several interesting archaeological finds, in the shape of Saxon burials. Three or four Saxon cemeteries are now known. In 1955 the skeleton of an Anglo-Saxon warrior with his spear was found at Northumberland Avenue: this dates from the sixth to the eighth centuries. Further skeletons from the Saxon period were found some years later by builders erecting a house in nearby Tollgate Lane. In July 1972 a skull, some bones and a brooch were taken to Moyse’s Hall. They had been found while a trench for a gas main was being dug at Westgarth Gardens, on the southern bank of the Linnet. Most of the houses on the estate had already been put up, but the developers allowed the site of two as yet unbuilt houses on Saxon Way to be excavated: four cremations and 65 inhumations were found. 5
Objects found in the graves included swords, glass vessels, brooches and an iron-bound bucket. They dated from the fifth to the seventh centuries. The other burials found were also of the sixth and seventh centuries, at Barons Road and Hardwick Road. These two sites are about
The first Christian king of the Saxons of East Anglia was Sigebert, who was brought up in France and had converted to Christianity there. He welcomed the Frenchman Felix when he was sent by Honorius, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in order to convert the East Anglians to Christianity. Felix became the first Bishop of East Anglia, probably based at Walton Castle, just north of Felixstowe, which is presumably named after him. Sigebert also brought the Irish monk Fursey and his brother Foillan to his kingdom, so that both Continental and Celtic Christianity were present in Saxon East Anglia. The brothers set up a monastery, almost certainly within the walls of the Roman fort at Burgh Castle.
Sigebert took his Christianity seriously: in
Almost nothing is known of the history of the Kingdom of East Anglia over the next two hundred years, until it emerged from obscurity through the personality of its most famous king, Edmund. In the year
500 metres apart, so they could possibly be two parts of the same large cemetery, but are more likely to be two separate cemeteries. There must have been villages, or at least farmsteads, associated with these graves, but no evidence of them has yet turned up. The recreated village at West Stow gives a vivid impression of what these Saxon houses would have looked like.630 he apparently founded a monastery at Bedricesworth, to which he intended to retire. He did so briefly, but when the pagan Mercians, led by King Penda, invaded the kingdom, he was brought out of retirement to lead an army against them. True to his Christian principles, he entered the fray armed only with a wand. He was killed and his army slaughtered.794 King Offa of Mercia had the East Anglian king, Ethelbert, assassinated, plunging the kingdom into chaos. As the historian William of Malmesbury wrote, ‘After King Ethelbert few reigned with any authority up to the time of St Edmund owing to the violence of the Mercians.’
Saint Edmund
The story of St Edmund, King and Martyr, has become so enmeshed in legend that it will probably never be possible to sort fact from fiction. In a way the legend is as important as the truth, for it tells how the people of Bury – and of England – in the Middle Ages thought of Edmund, and why he was at one time the most highly venerated saint in the land.
According to legend, Edmund’s predecessor as king was someone called Offa (not the Offa of Mercia already mentioned, but a different person of the same name). He had no heirs. He decided to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land (not an uncommon act for a Saxon king). On his journey he stayed with the king of Saxony, whose name is given as Alkmund in some strands of the legend. This king had two sons and Offa decided to adopt the younger, Edmund, as his heir. He then continued on his pilgrimage and successfully reached the Holy Land. However, he died on the return journey, near the Dardanelles. His followers returned to Saxony to let Edmund know that he was now king. He came back with them to claim his kingdom, landing (the legend says) at Hunstanton – the place is still known as St Edmund’s Point, and a chapel there is dedicated to the saint. He was crowned at Bures on Christmas Day in the year
Even legend has almost nothing to say about the first fourteen years of Edmund’s reign, but it has plenty to say about the end of it. The Viking invaders landed in
MacKinlay summarises the next part of the story in vivid prose:
855.865, attacking first Northumbria and then Mercia. They came to East Anglia in 869 and met Edmund’s army in battle. The English were defeated and the king was captured with some of his followers including his bishop, Humbert. Edmund refused to renounce his Christian faith, was scourged, tied to a tree and shot with arrows, and finally beheaded.
St Edmund’s head they kept, so that they might revenge themselves still further on the tongue which had so constantly sounded the name of Christ. The saint’s characteristic sweetness, fixed on every feature of the pale face, touched no human chord in Hingwar or Hubba’s breast [These are the names legend gives to the Viking leaders]. They tossed the sacred head of their conquered rival from one to another with savage delight. At last, tired with their inhuman plaything, they threw it outside the camp.
Later they threw the head into the forest, deliberately hiding it so that the Saxons would be unable to give their king a Christian burial.
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When the Danes had moved on, the Saxons emerged from hiding. They found the body of the king where it lay, but where was the head? MacKinlay continues the story:
Had the prowling wolves desecrated or devoured it? With these thoughts in their mind they anxiously sought for their missing treasure under the gaunt bare trees throughout the whole day. When the shades of evening fell, they signalled to each other by shouts or blasts of horns, so that every inch of ground might be examined without being traversed twice. Suddenly in the gloom they heard the voice of their sovereign crying ‘Here, Here, Here’. They stood still in astonishment, and then hurried to the spot whither the voice still summoned them. And behold, in a dark glade of the wood, a strange sight arrested their steps. Under the shadows of the trees a huge grey wolf crouched motionless, and between its paws rested the king’s head, placid and unharmed. As they ran up the wolf gently retired, as if its duty had ceased.
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The wolf is a key component of the story. Houghton adopts a rationalist approach, suggesting that perhaps it was actually a wolfhound belonging to Edmund, and that the cries heard were in fact its howls on finding the head of its master. This is an ingenious theory but does not reflect the way that people would have thought in the Middle Ages. The whole point of the story is the conquering power of Christ, through Edmund, over the forces of darkness and savagery. The image caught the imagination, and is a very common one in medieval art, where the head of a king with a wolf (sometimes just the head of the wolf is depicted) says to the viewer, with no need of any words, this is Edmund, King and Martyr.
Where did the battle take place? Where did Edmund die? Where was his body first buried? There are several possible answers to these questions and we need to look at the evidence. The first two references to Edmund come from sources written twenty or thirty years after his death, both probably in the West Country. They are the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Asser’s Life of King Alfred. They confirm the facts but do not give any place-names. The Chronicle records:
Here the raiding-army went across Mercia into East Anglia, and took winter quarters at Thetford; and in that year St Edmund the king fought against them, and the Danish took the victory, and killed the king and conquered all that land, and did for all the monasteries to which they came.
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Asser’s
Life was probably written in 893. He writes:
In the same year Edmund, king of the East Angles, fought fiercely against that army [the Vikings]. But alas, he was killed there with a large number of his men, and the Vikings rejoiced triumphantly, and they subjected that entire province to their authority.
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The first writer to give us the actual place of the battle was Abbo of Fleury, writing some
What does Abbo actually say about the battle? He tells us:
116 or so years after the event, in about 985 to 987. (Despite his name, Abbo was actually a monk at Canterbury at the time. He is called ‘of Fleury’ because he was later abbot there: he was murdered on 13 November 1004 and he is himself honoured in many churches as a martyr.) Abbo is very keen to show us that his information is reliable. He informs us that Edmund’s arrow-bearer had been an eyewitness to the king’s last moments. This man lived to be old and to retell the story at the court of King Athelstan. Dunstan, later to be Archbishop of Canterbury but then quite young, heard the story and was moved to tears. Three years before his own death, Dunstan repeated what he had heard to Abbo, who then wrote it down in his book. This chain of events is just possible if the arrow bearer lived fifty years or more after the event. Dunstan could have heard the story in the 920s or early 930s (he was born in the year 909): he told it to Abbo and others in 985.
Edmund, it happened, was at that time, staying some distance from the city [URBE], in a township which in the native language is called HAEGELISDUN, from which the neighbouring forest is called by the same name.
He describes the battle and Edmund’s death at great length and goes on:
The head, which had been anointed not with the oil of sinners but with the sacramental chrism of mystery, was carried by them as they retired into a wood, the name of which is HAGLESDUN, and was thrown by them as far as possible among the dense thickets of brambles, and so hidden.
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That is the first record of the place of Edmund’s death. For the name of the place where he was buried we have to wait a further hundred years. Herman of Bury wrote his
Life of St Edmund in about 1095. Like Abbo he is keen to stress the source of his information, although he is much less precise than Abbo. He does not tell us where the battle took place but says that after Edmund died:
He was entombed, as we are certified by the tradition of our elders, in a little village named SUTHTUNE close to the scene of his martyrdom, since, in view of the scathing pressure of a violent persecution, none of his subjects ventured to remove his body to any place of importance. There, accordingly, the saint reposed, and over his body was maintained an exceedingly diminutive bede-house, until by degrees the bitter persecution of the Danes cooled down, and the place which God’s providence had designated as most worthy of his martyr was revealed [meaning, of course, the town now called Bury St Edmunds].
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The question is whether weight can be given to information set down so long after the event. I believe it can: in an era when writing was uncommon people were far more used to committing facts to memory than we are today. It is generally accepted, for example, that the Gospels were not written down for at least half a century after the death of Jesus, but that many of the sayings they attribute to him were indeed spoken by him. The questions then become: where is Haegelistun? Where is Suthtune?
The simplest explanation of Haegelistun is that it is Hellesdon, outside Norwich in Norfolk. This is the place that sounds most like it, and is also a short way from the city – or
There have been some new theories in the
urbe – of Norwich. Many people do favour this idea: however, there has never been any tradition within Hellesdon that the battle took place here. Tradition has long associated the battle with Hoxne in Suffolk, although the name is not at all like Haegelistun. The earliest known reference to Hoxne as the place of the king’s death comes in a charter of 1100-1101. In this charter, Bishop Herbert Losinga grants to the monks of Norwich Cathedral ‘the church of Hoxne with the chapel of Saint Edmund in the same village where the same martyr was slain’. Although this charter is of about the same date as Herman was writing it does not have quite the same weight as evidence. Herman was a Bury monk and steeped in the traditions of the abbey: Herbert had no connection with Bury.20th century. Sir Ernest Clarke favoured the Suffolk village called Halgestou in Domesday Book of 1086, later Holstow. Hervey thought this a possibility but plumped instead for Hollesley. These were both just guesses, although Hervey pointed out that Hollesley is adjacent to a place called Sutton (unfortunately there are very many places called Sutton). Another possibility came to light in the 1980s, when Stanley West pointed out that there is a field called Hellesden Ley (ley means meadow), marked on the 1843 tithe map for Bradfield St Clare. Just a mile to the south is Sutton Hall. David Dymond added weight to this argument by pointing out that not only were both pieces of land owned by Bury Abbey but that they are listed together in the Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535, as though there was a connection between them. If this argument is accepted, and it is a very strong one, then it is an excellent example of how our awareness of history is continually changing: the location of a battle that took place a thousand years earlier may have been finally identified by a chance look at a map.12
Within
The rapid growth of the popularity of the cult of St Edmund can be seen in the number of churches dedicated to him and in the frequency with which his image occurs in medieval religious art. There are over
In many cases, however, there was no connection with Bury. Edmund is portrayed simply because he was an extremely popular saint among the English: indeed, he could be called the patron saint of England before St George superseded him during the time of the Crusades. There are many examples of the use of his image in Norfolk and Suffolk alone, such as in glass at Long Melford, Outwell and Martham, on screens at Stalham, Nayland and Somerleyton, in stone on a carved roof-boss at Norwich Cathedral, in a wall-painting at Troston, and on a wooden chest at Denton (made from panels that were probably originally a screen).
The key moment in the history of the town of Bury St Edmunds occurred probably in the year
If the translation did take place in
In
Fresh pagan Viking raids began in the late tenth century and in
Edmund might have been dead
Canute, Swein’s son, became king of England in
The Archbishop of Canterbury consecrated the new church in
Canute, in a charter of
King Edward the Confessor visited the abbey in
The eight and a half hundreds given by Edward cover most of the western half of Suffolk. His charter can be seen as the origin of Bury’s influence in this part of the county, which led directly to it becoming the official capital of West Suffolk when that county came to be established over
King Edward made a further grant to the abbey in
The abbot of Bury from
25 years of his death, King Edmund was venerated as a martyr for the Christian faith. We have coin evidence to support this. Coins with Edmund’s names on them appear to have been minted from about 890. A hoard of coins found at Cuerdale in Lancashire, which is probably to be dated at 903, has over 1,800 coins bearing his name. We also know that as early as the tenth century his martyrdom was commemorated on 20 November, so this is almost certainly the exact day of his death.50 churches in England dedicated to St Edmund, including Southwold in Suffolk and Acle in Norfolk. His image is found in many medieval churches in a variety of forms – glass, wall paintings, rood screens and carvings. In some cases the building has an obvious connection with Bury and the abbey – there is an image of Edmund in the roof carving of St Mary’s in Bury, and a carving of his head and the wolf below a 15th-century window at Moyse’s Hall in the town. The church of St Laurence in Norwich, which was connected with Bury abbey, has a similar carving in the spandrel of the west door.903. The body of the saint was formally moved (the technical word is ‘translated’) from ‘Sutton’ to Bedricesworth and placed in a large church made of wood. The guardians of this shrine were not monks but secular priests: four priests and two deacons. (One writer, Herman, places the date of translation as being in the reign of King Athelstan, which would make it rather later: Athelstan reigned from 925 to 941.)903, it is clear that the threat posed by the pagan Vikings had not lasted very long. In fact place-name evidence suggests that Viking settlement in Suffolk was confined to the coast and the rivers. In any case the Danish leader, Guthrum, agreed in 878 to convert to Christianity. In 918 Edward the Elder, king of the West Saxons, conquered East Anglia and assimilated it into his kingdom. Bishops were re-established in East Anglia, at Hoxne and at North Elmham.945, Edmund, son of Edward the Elder, and presumably named in honour of the saint, gave land around Bedricesworth to the monastery. In the same year, Theodred II, Bishop of Elmham, opened the coffin and found Edmund’s body ‘whole and incorrupt’, according to Abbo. He placed it in a new wooden shrine.1010 the English were defeated at Ringmere Heath, near Thetford. This posed an obvious threat to the security of the shrine of St Edmund at Bury. The body of the saint is supposed to have been taken to London in 1010 by the guardian of the shrine, Ailwin, to prevent it being captured by the Danes – it remained there for three years before being returned to Bury.140 years but he was still capable of influencing events. The Viking leader, Swein, established himself in England. He demanded tax from the lands of the abbey. When Swein died suddenly before the money was paid, very many people attributed his death directly to the power of St Edmund. Swein was travelling from Gainsborough to Bury when he had a vision. According to William of Malmesbury, Edmund appeared to Swein and ‘complained mildly’ about the king’s treatment of the priests at Bury. When Swein gave him an insolent answer, Edmund ‘struck him on the head a blow from the power of which he shortly died’.1016. He was a Christian and appears to have believed in the power of the saint: he spent an enormous amount on establishing Bury as a great power. It was Canute who set up the monastery in Bury in 1020, and also had a new church built there. A community of 20 monks replaced the priests. A stone church was begun in the same year, with a rotunda to house the saint’s body.1032 and, in 1038, the body of St Edmund was moved into its new shrine within the church. The abbey was also given privileges within the important Saxon town of Thetford, ten miles to the north. A daughter-house of Bury was established there in the reign of Canute, probably also in about 1020. The abbey also owned an unnamed church in the town, according to the evidence of Domesday Book.1028, gave the abbey many rights including full jurisdiction within their township. The area of their power extended well beyond the town itself and was known as the banleuca. The power of the abbot of Bury within this area was so great that no clergyman could celebrate mass or erect an altar without his permission. Four large crosses – the Virgin’s Cross (also called Heye Cross or St Peter’s Cross), Eldhawe Cross, Black Cross and Weeping Cross – marked the boundaries of the banleuca. The base of the Virgin’s Cross still survives although not on its original site – it was moved nearer to Risbygate, at the corner with Chalk Lane, in the 17th century. The cavity in the top of the stone, which originally held the shaft of the cross, was then filled with vinegar in which coins would be washed in time of plague to prevent the spread of infection – hence it is now usually called the Plague Stone. Unfortunately, the stone has suffered from vandalism in the later 20th century and has had to be moved again: it now stands in front of West Suffolk College.1044 and gave them yet more privileges: the manor of Mildenhall and jurisdiction over eight full hundreds and one half-hundred in West Suffolk. Hundreds are a very ancient division of a county into smaller administrative units: the Suffolk hundreds go back to at least the tenth century, most taking their names from their original open-air meeting places. The hundred that surrounds Bury was called Thingoe, a name that will recur throughout this book. The Saxons held their hundred court on Thing Howe, the hill just to the north of the present railway station in Bury. The mound had a tumulus on its summit. This was excavated in 1880 and three burials found, but the excavation was very incomplete and did not reach the centre of the tumulus.800 years later.1065 permitting the establishment of a mint: this document is especially interesting, as it is the first known reference to the town under the name Saint Edmunds Bury (Biri in the charter).1045 was a monk called Leofstan. He had the temerity to open Edmund’s coffin to see if the head was indeed reunited to the body, as legend claimed. For this he received divine punishment – both his hands were immediately paralysed and he could not be cured. A direct result of this was that King Edward the Confessor sent his friend and personal physician, Baldwin, to try to cure Leofstan. Baldwin was a friend not only of Edward but also of William the Conqueror and thus straddles the division between Saxon and Norman England. Leofstan died in 1065: he was buried at the foot of St Edmund’s shrine. Baldwin was elected abbot and was to become the key figure in the development of the town and the abbey in Norman times, as described in the next chapter. |
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