BURY ST.
EDMUNDS.

Violent

storm, Aug. 1, 1766.

As foreign ladies, desirous of issue, might have found it inconvenient to repair hither in person, to assist at these ceremonies, they were certain to prove equally efficacious, if performed by proxy.' Previously to the dissolution, Bury contained an inferior monastic establishment of Grey friars, or Franciscans. At the reformation there were in Bury five hospitals, St. Saviour's at North-gate, St. Peter's at Risby-gate, St. John's Numerous at South-gate, St. Stephen's and St. Nicholas' at East-gate; one college, chapels. called Jesus College, in College-street, consisting of a warden, and six associates, and the following chapels, whose names and situations are yet known, though the buildings have long been demolished: St. Mary's, at East-gate bridge, another at West-gate, and a third at Risby-gate; St. Michael's, in the Infirmary; St. Andrew's, in the cemetery of the monks; St. John's, in the hill; and St. John's, ad fontem; St. Anne's, in cryptis ; St. Thomas's, near St. Saviour's; St. Lawrence's, in the court-yard; St. Gyles's, near the nave of the church; St. Petronilla's, within the South-gate; St. Botolph's, within South-gate street; St. Edmund's, or Round chapel in the church-yard; and St. Denis's, besides the hermitage at West-gate, and thirteen other chapels, the sites of which are unknown. During the prosperity of the abbey, it comprehended within its precincts, besides the conventual church, three others, St. Margaret's, St. Mary's and St. James's. The former has long ceased to be appropriated to religious purposes, and is now used as the town-hall. The others are the churches of the two parishes into which Bury is divided. St. Mary's, first erected in 1005, began to be rebuilt in its present state, in 1424, and was finished about 1433. This church sustained considerable injury from lightning, during a violent storm, on the 1st of August, 1766. St. James's church was originally built about the year 1200. The present structure was not finished till the reformation, when Edward VI. gave £200. to complete it. Constructed of free-stone, it is a fine Gothic building, and the west end is particularly beautiful. The two church-yards, conjoined, are kept in excellent order: an alley of lofty poplars running diagonally across them, forms a pleasant promenade. Nearly in the centre is a small plot of ground inclosed with high iron railing, and planted with trees of different kinds. In this place is the receptacle, provided by the late James Pink, Esq., banker of Bury, for himself and his family. Within the same inclosure, is a plain upright stone, terminating in a pyramid, with the figure of a cross carved upon it, and underneath the following inscription Here lies interred the body of Mary Singleton, a young maiden of this parish, aged nine years, born of Roman Catholic parents, and virtuously brought up; who, being in the act of prayer, repeating her vespers, was instantaneously killed by a flash of lightning, Aug. 16, 1785." The remains of the west end of St. Edmund's church, which bound the churchyard on one side, at present exhibit a singular and motley spectacle. One of the octagon towers which formerly terminated each end, is still standing, and has been converted into a stable. Three arches, once the entrances to the three aisles, have been filled up with modern buildings, and converted into as many neat houses, while the intermediate rugged portions of the original massive wall, which is supposed to have been once faced with marble, have braved the ravages of not much less than three centuries. "In the path-way, between the two churches, an atrocious attempt was made, in 1721, by Arundel Coke, Esq. barrister, with the assistance of one Woodbourne, a hired assassin, to murder his brother-in-law, Edward Crisp, Esq., in the hope of possessing his property. He had invited him, his wife, and family, to supper, and at night, on pretence of going to see a mutual friend, he led him into the church-yard, where on a given signal, Woodbourne rushed upon Mr. Crisp, and cut his head and face in a terrible manner, with a hedging bill. Leaving him on the ground for dead, Coke returned to the company as if nothing had happened. Mr. Crisp however was not killed, and on

Sudden death by lightning.

Atrocious

attempt to commit murder.

66

:

EDMUNDS.

The plot

discovered, and the of

fenders

Grand

recovering himself, mustered sufficient strength to crawl back to the house BURY ST. of this inhuman relative, where his appearance, so cruelly mangled and covered with blood, excited the utmost horror and amazement, and confounded the author of the barbarous deed. It was not long before he was discovered, and with his accomplice brought to trial, on the statute for defacing and dismembering, called the Coventry act. Mr. Crisp having found survived this outrage, Coke was so good a lawyer, and so hardened a guilty. villain, as to hope to save himself by pleading that he intended not to deface but to kill. This justification, little inferior in atrocity to the crime itself, availed him nothing; sentence of death was passed upon him, and the partner of his guilt;" and the law took its due course. In the churchyard stands Clopton's hospital, a handsome brick building, with projecting wings, founded and endowed in 1730, agreeably to the will of the late Poley Clopton, M.D., as an asylum for six poor men, and as many women, three of either sex out of each parish. On the same side of the churchyard with the hospital, is a neat new building, the residence of John Benjafield, Esq. On the opposite side stands the shire hall, or sessions house, where the assizes for the county are held. It is a building of modern erection, on the site of the ancient church of St. Margaret, and contains two convenient courts, for criminal and civil causes. The grand abbey-gate opened into the great court-yard, in front of the abbot's abbey gate. palace. It is the only relic now left to attest the former magnificence of this establishment. Upon the destruction of the original entrance to the abbey, in the assault of the townsmen, in 1327, this gate was erected upon a plan, combining elegance with utility. Its form approaches a square, being forty-one feet by fifty, and sixty-two in height. The architecture is of the best period of the Gothic style. This gate, which is eminently entitled to notice, opens into the abbey grounds, still surrounded with the ancient lofty wall, and containing some massive detached fragments of the magnificent edifices, which once occupied part of their site. In the garden, included within this precinct, specimens of various pieces of antiquity have at different times been found. In the conventual church were interred many persons of high distinction; and many celebrated inhabitants of the monastery were also buried here. In 1772, some labourers, employed in breaking up a part of the ruins, discovered a leaden coffin, which had been enclosed in an oaken case, then quite decayed. It contained an embalmed body, fresh and entire as at the time of interment, surrounded by a kind of pickle, and the face covered with a cerecloth. The features, the nails of the fingers and toes, and the hair, which was brown with some mixture of grey, appeared as perfect as ever. A surgeon examined the body, and made an incision on the breast; the flesh cut as firm as that of a living subject, and there was even an appearance of blood. The skull was sawed in pieces, and the brain, though wasted, was found inclosed in its proper membrane. The corpse was not in the least offensive, but, on being exposed to the air, it soon became putrid. The labourers, for the sake of the lead, removed the body from its receptacle, and threw it among the rubbish. It was soon ascertained, however, that the corpse was the remains of Thomas Beaufort, son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, by his third duchess, Lady Catherine Swinford, grandson of King Edward III., half-brother to Henry IV., by whom he was created Duke of Exeter, knight of the garter, admiral and governor of Calais, and lord high chancellor of England. On this discovery, the mangled remains were enclosed in a strong oaken coffin, and buried at the foot of the large north-east pillar, which formerly assisted to support the belfry." The Guildhall gives name to the street in which it stands. In the chamber over the entrance, the archives of the town are kept. Here the town sessions are held, &c. Abbot Sampson, in 1198, erected a school-house, and settled a stipend on the master, who was required to give gratuitous instruction to forty poor boys. This building

An embalmed

body found.

The body of the son of

John of

Gaunt reinterred.

BURY ST.
EDMUNDS.

Lancas

terian school.

Good public

library.

Ruins of St.

Saviour's hospital.

stood near the present shirehall, and the street received from it the name
of School-hall-street, which it still retains. The free grammar-school,
founded by Edward VI., seems to have been a revival of the former insti-
tution. Its original situation was in East-gate-street; but a new school-
house was erected in North-gate-street by public contribution. The bust
of the founder stands over the door, in the front of the building. There
are forty scholars on the foundation, and it is free for all the sons of
towns-people or inhabitants. The number of pupils of the latter class
amounts to about eighty. A school on the plan of Mr. Lancaster was
opened in 1811, in College-street, and about 200 poor boys were admitted.
The theatre, built in 1780, on the site of the old market cross, not being
found sufficiently large or commodious, a piece of ground was bought, in
the winter of 1818, for the purpose of building a new one, which is now
in progress.
On the Hog-hill, or Beast-market, stands the common
bridewell, formerly a Jewish synagogue, in old writings, called Moyse
Hall. At the upper side of the market are the Wool-halls, where great
quantities of wool used to be annually deposited, when that article was the
principal source of employment of the poorer inhabitants of Bury, and its
vicinity. In Churchgate-street is a meeting-house for the Dissenters, and
in Whiting-street another for Independents. The Quakers have a neat
place of worship in the Long Brakeland. At the south side of the Angel-
hill, stand the assembly-rooms, of simple exterior, erected some years ago.
The ball-room is well proportioned, seventy-six feet in length, forty-five
in breadth, and twenty-nine feet high. Adjoining to it is an apartment,
used as a card and supper-room, thirty-s
-seven feet by twenty-four; and
the building contains also a subscription news-room.
The Suffolk Public
Library, formed by the union of two libraries, the one instituted in 1790,
and the other in 1795, is situated in Abbey-gate-street. The Angel inn,
one of the most conspicuous buildings in the town, stands on the west side
of the Angel-hill. The vaults underneath it are supposed to have formerly
belonged to the abbey, and to have once had a subterraneous communica-
tion with that establishment. A mile from the centre of the town stands
the new gaol, which, in Mr. Buxton's very popular pamphlet on prison
discipline, is spoken of in terms of the highest praise, for situation, con-
struction, and management. This gaol, which has a neat stone front,
wrought in rustic, was completed in 1805." In the vicinity of Bury, an
elegant seat was built in 1773, by John Symonds, LL.D., professor of
modern history and languages, in the university of Cambridge, who gave
it the appellation of St. Edmund's-hill, from the beautiful eminence on
which it stands. A little to the southward of the town, a brick edifice,
with two small detached buildings was erected subsequently to the com-
mencement of the late war, as a magazine for arms and ammunition.
Bury had five gates till about fifty years ago, when they were all taken
down to afford a more convenient passage for carriages. At each of these
gates was formerly an hospital, or some religious foundation. Beyond the
north gate, on the east side, and contiguous to the Thetford road, are the
ruins of St. Saviour's hospital, the most celebrated in Bury, which must
have been a very extensive building, if, as it is said, the parliament
assembled here in 1446. Not far from the east gate of the abbey stood
St. Nicholas' hospital, some remains of which are yet to be seen, converted
into a farm-house. Just without the South-gate was the hospital of St.
Petronilla; the chapel of which, still pretty entire, is now used as a malt-
house. At the West-gate formerly stood Our Lady's chapel, and a
hermitage, now a cow-house. Close to Risby-gate was formerly a
chantry, now the Cock public-house. At a small distance is an octangular
stone, the pedestal of a cross. About the year 1677, the cavity at the top
being filled with water, the country people who resorted to Bury-market,
then held without Risby-gate, because the small pox raged in the town, were
accustomed to wash their money lest it should convey the infection to the

66

EDMUNDS.

Charter of

incorporation, 1606.

visited the

neighbouring villages. A religious establishment called Jesus College, in BURY ST. College-street, was founded by Edward IV. It is now converted into a work-house. The Vine-field, eastward of Bury, commands a charming view of the town. This spot derives its name from the vineyard belonging to the abbey, which was situated on this declivity. The river Larke has been rendered navigable to within a mile of Bury; but the inhabitants derive little benefit from it in proportion to what they might receive from its extension. James I. in 1606, granted this town a charter of incorporation, with numerous extensive privileges. The donations for public and charitable purposes are very considerable. The September fair usually continues three weeks. Its charter was granted to the abbot in 1272, and it was formerly one of the most celebrated marts in the kingdom. It was then held, as it is now, on the Angel-hill, where rows of booths were assigned to the manufactures of Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, London, &c. and even to some foreigners, especially the Dutch. On this occasion the abbot kept an open table; while those of inferior rank were entertained in the refectory by the monks. The widowed queen of France, sister to Queen of Henry VIII., came every year from her residence at Westhorpe, with her France noble consort the Duke of Suffolk to attend this fair, where she had a fairs. magnificent tent for the reception of the numerous people of rank, who resorted thither to pay their respects to her, and a band of music for their diversion. Bury was frequently honoured with the presence of Edward the Confessor. In 1132, Henry I. returning to England after his interview at Chartres with Pope Innocent III. was overtaken by a violent tempest. As soon as he had landed, he repaired to Bury to perform his devotions at the shrine of St. Edmund. Soon after the treaty concluded by Stephen, with Henry, son of Maud, by which the latter was acknowledged his successor, Stephen's son, Eustace came to Bury, and demanded of the abbey and convent considerable supplies of money, &c. On the refusal of the abbot, the prince ordered the granaries of the monastery to be plundered, and many of the farms belonging to it to be ravaged and burned. In the midst of these proceedings, he was seized with a fever, and expired at Bury on St. Lawrence's day, 1153, in the eighteenth year of his age. During the contest in which Henry II. was engaged with his sons, a considerable army was assembled at Bury, to support the cause of the sovereigns; and, at Fornham St. Genoveive, on the 27th of October, 1173, a bloody engagement took place, and terminated in the total defeat of the rebels. In this engagement the sacred standard Bloody enof St. Edmund was borne before the royal army, which now made Bury its head quarters. In this reign the Jews, who were very numerous at Bury, had a synagogue there. In 1179, having, as it is said, murdered a boy of this town, named Robert, in derision of Christ's crucifixion, and committed the like offences in other parts of England, they were banished the kingdom. Richard I., previously to his departure for the Holy Land, paid a devotional visit to the convent and shrine of St. Edmund; and on his return he offered up the rich standard of Isaac, King of Cyprus, at the shrine. The foundation of Magna Charta is known to have been a charter of Henry I. A copy of it having fallen into the hands of Stephen Langton, archbishop of Canterbury, was by him communicated to the principal nobles of the kingdom, a meeting of whom was convened at Bury to deliberate on the subject. On this occasion, each of the persons present went to the high altar of the church of St. Edmund, in which the assembly was held, and there swore, that if the king should refuse to abolish the arbritary Norman laws, and restore those enacted by Edward the Confessor, they would make war upon him until he complied. The king, on his return from Poitou, in 1214, met his barons at Bury, and with the utmost solemnity confirmed this celebrated deed; binding himself, by a public oath, to regulate his administration by the grand principles which it established. Henry III. paid several visits to Bury. In

gagement.

Royal devotional visit.

BURY ST. EDMUNDS.

Royal adorations to

the shrine of St. Edmund.

Henry VI. celebrated Christmas here, 1433.

1272, he held a parliament here, and then proceeded to Norwich to punish the authors of a violent insurrection against the prior and monks of that city. He returned to this town, where he was seized with the disorder, which soon afterwards terminated his reign and life. In 1296, Edward I. held a parliament at Bury. In the reign of Edward II., his queen Isabella, being dissatisfied with the conduct of the Spensers, favourites of that monarch, obtained the assistance of the Prince of Hainault, and landed with a force of 2700 men, furnished by him at Orwell haven; on which she marched to this town, where she continued some time to refresh her troops, and collect her adherents. Edward III. and Richard II. visited Bury, and paid their adoration at the shrine of St. Edmund. In 1381, soon after the insurrection of Wat Tyler, the people of Norfolk and Suffolk, and Jack Straw, committed excessive devastations. Proceeding to Cavendish, they there plundered and burned the house of Sir John de Cavendish, the lord chief-justice, whom they seized and carried to Bury; where they struck off his head, and placed it on the pillory. They then attacked the monastery. Sir John Cambridge, the prior, endeavoured to escape by flight, but being taken and executed near Mildenhall, his head was set up near that of the lord chief-justice. Sir John Lakenhythe, the keeper of the barony, shared the same fate. The insurgents then plundered the abbey, carrying off jewels to a considerable amount, and doing much mischief to the buildings. In 1433, Henry VI. celebrated Christmas at the monastery of Bury. In 1446, a parliament was held in this town, at which that monarch presided. Another parliament met at Bury, in 1448; and in 1486, the town was honoured with the presence of Henry VII., in his progress through Norfolk and Suffolk. In 1526, an alarming insurrection of the people of Lavenham, Hadleigh, Sudbury, and the adjacent country, was quelled by the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk who met for that purpose at Bury, whither many of the ringleaders were brought and appeared before those noblemen in their shirts, and with halters about their necks, when they received the royal pardon. On the death of Edward VI. John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, having procured Lady Jane Grey to be declared the heir to the crown, marched with an army into Suffolk, and made Bury the rendezvous of his troops. Mary was meanwhile proclaimed queen by the council, who ordered the duke to return to Cambridge. During the reign of Mary, Bury witnessed several of those scenes, which disgraced various parts of the kingdom. James Abbes, was here Execution burned for a heretic on the 2d August, 1555; Roger Clarke, of Mendlesham, in 1556; and Roger Bernard, Adam Forster, and Robert Lawson, on the 30th June, the same year. In like manner, John Cooke, Robert Miles, Alexander Lane, and James Ashley, suffered for the same cause, shortly before the queen's last illness; and Philip Humphrey, and John and Henry David, brothers, were here brought to the stake only a fortnight before Mary's death. Elizabeth, in her journey through Norfolk and Suffolk, in 1578, paid a visit to this town. During the reign of her successor, this town experienced a destructive calamity, thus recorded by Stow ::-"In the year 1608, April 11th, being Monday, the quarter sessions was held at St. Edmund's Bury, and by negligence, an out malt-house was set on fire; from whence, in a most strange and sudden manner, through fierce winds, the fire came to the farthest side of the town, and as it went, left some streets and houses safe and untouched. The flame flew clean over many houses, and did great spoil to many fair buildings farthest off; and ceased not till it had consumed 160 dwelling houses, besides others; and, in damage of wares and household stuff, to the full value of £60,000." King James, who was a great benefactor to the town, contributed vast quantities of timber towards rebuilding it. In 1636, the plague so depopulated the town, that the grass grew in the streets. Four hundred families lay sick of that distemper at the same time, and were maintained at the public charge, which is said to have amounted to £200.

of heretics.

Awful conflagration.