Bury St. Edmunds is a town in Suffolk and is the seat of the Regional Assembly.
The Abbey was destroyed in the 16th century but has the Abbey Gardens that surround the ruins. In the late 1990’s an Internet bench was installed. It allowed anyone to plug in a portable computer or games consul but it had only been in place a week when two teenagers found that free telephone calls could also be made so they phoned Bill Gates, instigator of Microsoft, in person to inform of the problem.
Next to the Abbey is the Bury St. Edmund Cathedral, created in 1914 and was extended in 1960. The new Gothic revival cathedral tower was built as a millennium project taking from 2000 to 2005. The tower was built by six masons who cut and laid each stone. The opening took place in July 2005. There is still much work needed to complete the cathedral, much of which is not open to the public because of the ongoing work.
Moyse’s Hall Museum is one of the oldest domestic buildings in East Anglia open to the public. It houses examples of art, costume and local history.
The largest landmark of the town is the sugar beet factory. It was built in 1925 and processes beet from 1300 local growers. During the beet harvest up to 600 lorry loads can be accepted a day at the plant. It cannot all be processed at once and some is kept in holding tanks untill the spring. The sugar is sold under the brand name of Silver Spoon. By products of the cane include fertilizer and molassed sugar beet for animals. When the wind in a certain direction the smell of the burnt starch is very strong.
In 1974 17 members of Bury St Edmunds rugby club were killed in a plane crash near Paris.
The town has an annual May Festival this includes dance, concerts and plays and ends with a firework display.
The town council election in May 2007 was won by the ‘Abolish Bury Town Council’ party.
Property to rent in Bury St. Edmunds is available with average prices of £580 for a 2 bed flat, £670 for a 2 bed house and £950 for a three bed house.
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