TL8564 : The Remains of St Edmund's Abbey
taken 13 years ago, near to Bury st Edmunds, Suffolk, England

Two very large medieval gatehouses survive, but apart from those, the ruins of the eleventh century abbey church and most other buildings are merely rubble cores.
Also in the photograph is the Cathedral of St Edmundsbury, with its twenty first century "Millennium" tower.
A church has stood on the site of the cathedral since at least 1065, when St Denis's Church was built within the precincts of Bury St Edmunds Abbey. In the early 12th century St Denis's was rebuilt and the new church was dedicated to Saint James. This church was largely rebuilt, starting in 1503, with more alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries.
St James’s served as the parish church for the north side of Bury St Edmunds until it was made a cathedral in 1914. Little of note was done to enlarge the church to fit its new role, apart from repairs, until the 1960s.
The first phase of enlargement of the church began in 1960 with the rebuilding of the chancel and the creation of transepts and side chapels. The Millennium Tower, a striking Gothic revival tower was built between 2000 and 2005; until then, the building was the last unfinished cathedral in Britain.
The Cathedral is a Grade I listed building (LinkImages of England)
The Abbey Gardens, created within the walls of the former mediæval monastery Link
, are a mixture of formal bedding displays, quiet corners and open spaces for relaxation. The park was first laid out as botanic gardens in 1831 and has been open to the public since 1912.
