Started out in 945 as a Benedictine abbey, Bury St. Edmonds was founded to house the remains of Edmund, King of East Anglia, who was tortured and beheaded here by marauding Danes in 869. Until it was dissolved under kingly edict in the 16th C., the abbey enjoyed great wealth and power.

Today the Abbey is a vast set of ruins, surrounded and intertwined with public gardens. A plaque stands where in 1214 the nobles gathered and swore to force the Magna Carta onto King John. Against the back of the ruins stands the Bury Cathedral. Another magnificent structure, this one has enjoyed additions as late as the 1960's, but despite its' cathedral status, St. Mary's church located next door almost defeats the cathedral proper in stature.