ST. MARY'S was first erected in 1005. It began to be rebuilt in its present state in 1424, and was finished about the year 1433. This structure is 139 feet long, exclusive of the chancel, and 67 in breadth; the chancel is 74 feet by 68. It is divided into three aisles, separated from each other by two rows of slender and elegant coluinns. The roof of the nave, constructed in France, and put together after it was brought to England, is admired for its lightness and elegance. The finely carved figure of angels, supporting the principals of the roof, fortunately, from their height, escaped the fury of the puritanical zealots of the seventeenth century. The north porch of this church, on which is inscribed, orate pro animabus Johannis Notyngham, et Isabelle uxoris suæ, and particularly the cul de lampe, is of curious workmanship. Previously to the reformation, St. Mary's was much distinguished for its numerous altars,* images, and pictures. At the dissolution of the Abbey, this church, as well as St. James's was included in the general system of plunder, both of them being stripped of plate and other ornaments, then valued at about 4801. Both likewise contained, numerous inscriptions, and effigies in brass; but these, as we learn from the town books, were, in 1644, torn off by the church-wardens, and sold for their private emolument: so that the monuments of the highest antiquity in these churches are much defaced. *On the north side of the communion table in St. Mary's church, was formerly a plain altar monument for Mary Tudor, third daughter of king Henry VII. This princess, who honoured the town of Bury with her especial favor and protection, had by her beauty and accomplishments, won the heart of the Duke of Suffolk, one of the most distinguished characters at the court of Henry VIII. The shining qualities of the duke, had produced a reciprocal attachment on the part of the princess; but policy, and the etiquette of • Part of one of these, supposed to be our lady's altar, is still to be seen against the south wall. of courts, forbade their union, and in 1514, consigned the young and beautiful Mary, to the arms of the aged and infirm Louis XII. of France. To that country she was accordingly sent, with a magnificent retinue; and at the tournaments held in celebration of the marriage, the duke of Suffolk signalized himself above all his competitors, for dexterity, gallantry, and valour. This unnatural union was not of long duration; on the death of the French monarch, the duke was sent to conduct the princess back to her native country, where soon after her arrival, she, in 1517, bestowed her hand on the object of her first affection. This princess, dying at Westhorpe, in this county, in 1533, was first interred in the great church of the monastery, on the dissolution of which, her remains were removed hither. Her tomb was simple and unadorned; it was for some time supposed to be only a cenotaph, but on opening it in 1731, a covering of lead, evidently inclosing a human body, was found, with this inscription on the breast: Mary, Queen of France, 1533. Notwithstanding this discovery, the tomb continued without any external memorial of the rank of the person deposited beneath it, till 1758, when Dr. Symonds, of Bury, had it repaired at his own expence, and a marble tablet inserted, with an inscription, recording the particulars stated above. In the middle of the chancel, lies interred John Reeve, who became abbot of Bury in 1511, and was obliged to surrender the abbey to the king, in November 1539, on which, an annuity of 500 marks was assigned him. He retired to a large house, at the south-west corner of Crown street, which has undergone less alteration than any other, of that age, in the town, and where in 1768, his arms were still to be seen in one of the windows. Chagrin and vexation probably shortened his life, as he died here on the 31st of March, following. His grave was, originally, covered with a very large flat stone, of marble, embellished with the arms of the abbey, impaling those of his family, and also his portraiture in pontificals: but it was broken to make room for a new one, to cover a Mr. Sutton, who was buried in the same grave.* On the old stone, as we are informed by Weever, was a Latin inscription to the following effect :---" Here lie the bones of the man, whom Bury formerly owned its lord and abbot; his name John, born at Melford in Suffolk, his family and father called Reeve.† He was intrepid, prudent, learned, and affable, upright, and a lover of his vow, and his religion : who, when he had seen the 31st of the reign of Henry VIII. died the 31st of March following. May God spare his soul! 1540." At the east end of the south-aisle, a well executed altar monument, for John Baret, who died in 1643, exhibits a striking proof of the skill of some of our ancient artists, in the durability of the red and black substances, with which the letters, engraven in different parts, were filled up. Over the monument is a wooden ceiling ""Abbot Reeve's grave-stone of grey marble, which formerly had his full effigy in brass, with a mitre on his head, and a crosier in his hand, with four coats of arms at the corners of the stone, which is large, and very noble, and no doubt, provided by the good abbot some years before his death, was, not long before I was at Bury in March 1745-6, taken up from the middle of the chancel in St. Mary's church, at Bury, where it had rested ever since the dissolution, to make room for the grave-stone of one Sutton, the purser of a ship, and the abbot's moved out of the church, and laid by the entrance into the south porch, in the church-yard of the said church. This I saw, with no small degree of indignation, when I was at Bury with the late Sir James Burroughs, walking with him about the precincts of the abbey, and into the two noble churches of Bury. The fanatics of 1643, only stole the brass of the grave-stone, but let the bones remain in quiet possession of their rightful habitation." (Cole's MSS. Vol. XXVII. p. 198.) † Weever writes Kemis, but this is evidently erroneous. + In John Ap Rice's report concerning the misrule of Bury Abbey, at the time of the dissolution, is the following character of him." As for the abbot, we finde nothing to suspect as touching hys livyng, but it was detected that he laye moche forth in hys granges; that he delited moche in playing at dice and cardes, and therein spent moche money, and in buylding for his pleasure. He did not preache openly. Also that he converted divers fermes. into copieholdes, wherof poore men doth complayne. Also he seemeth to be addicted to the meynteyning of such superstitions ceremonies as hathe ben used heretofor." ceiling, adorned with his motto, in the old English character, "Grace me govern!" the initials of his name, and other painted embellishments, the colors of which remain fresh and unfaded, after the lapse of three centuries and a half. In this church, on the south side of the chancel, beneath the last arch, towards the east, is a large altar monument, covering the remains of Sir Thomas Drury, who was privy-counsellor to Henry VII. and VIII. and is supposed to have died about the year 1533. This is erroneously attributed, by Weever, to Roger Drury, who died in 1472, and Agnes his wife, in 1445. All that is left of any inscription, on Sir Robert's monument is this distich on the wooden palisades. Such as ye be some time ware wee, Opposite to this monument, is that of Sir William Carew, who. died in 1501, and his wife, in 1525. She was first cousin to Sir Robert Drury, just mentioned. Both these tombs are surrounded with wooden railing, having the effigies upon them, and the trophies over head. The stone which covers John Finers, constituted arch-deacon of Sudbury in 1497, has a brass plate, with his effigy upon it, and an inscription in monkish Latin. In the vestry at the east end of the south aisle, are the figures of John, commonly called Jankyn Smith, a celebrated benefactor of Bury,* and his wife, engraven in brass, on a flat stone, on a corner of which was lately to be seen an escutcheon of his arms. Joseph Weld, esq. serjeant at law, recorder, and at the time of his death, one of the representatives of this town in parliament, is interred in the crypt, at the east end of the chancel; a spot, says • He was an inhabitant of this town in the reign of Edward IV. and gave lands in Bury, Barton, Rougham, Hepworth, and other places, since improved to the yearly value of 2001. for celebrating his anniversary, and the overplus for the benefit of the inhabitants. His portrait on board is still preserved in an upper room at the Guildhall. An inscription on the frame, with the date, 1473, records his benefaction. says the epitaph, which he had chosen in his life-time for that purpose. This gentleman gave 2001. towards the rebuilding of St. James's chancel, and died a bachelor in 1711, aged 60. The church-register records the burial, in St. Mary's, of a bishop of Loghlin, in Ireland, about the same time as Abbot Reeve, but no farther memorial of him is known to be extant. This church sustained considerable injury from lightning, during a violent storm, on the 1st August 1766. A fissure was made in the wall, several large stones of which were driven into the interior, and so tremendous was the explosion, that the destruction of the whole edifice was apprehended. ST. JAMES's church was originally built about the year 1200, by Abbot Sampson, who was dissuaded by his brethren of the abbey, from his intention of going on a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. James, at Compostella, in Spain, and in compliance with their recommendation, founded this church in honor of that saint at Bury. The present structure, though far advanced in 1500, was not finished till the reformation, when king Edward VI. gave 2001 to compleat it, as we learn from the following inscription over the west door, in the interior of the building :-- Our most noble Sovereign Lord, |