Explore my World - English cathedrals

 From watching programmes on television and from having visited some myself I have realised that there is not only a lot of architectural interest in cathedrals in this country, but also a tremendous amount of history. I intend to visit various cathedrals around the UK and discover more about them.

Bury St. Edmunds Cathedral

St. Edmunds cathedral first became a cathedral in 1914. St. Denis's church stood on this site as early as 1065. In the early 12th century Abbot Anselm rebuilt St Denis's and renamed it St. James. Anselm was responsible for building the Abbet Gate which served as the Belfry, and still does today. The belfry has a ring of twelve bells.

St. Jame's was largely rebuilt in 1503 and further building work took place in the 18th- 19th centuries. After the church became a cathedral more work was carried out and between 1959 - 1970. The Victorian chancel was demolished and a new Quire and Cloister were added on the west side. Also the Transepts, a Lady Chapel and a side Chapel were added. Worked started on the renewel of the tower in 2000 hence it is called the Mellennium Tower. It is 46 metres high and is built from 600,000 bricks It was completed and officially opened in July 2005 by the then Prince Charles. Further additions were made in 2009 and 2012 to the East Cloister and the Crypt Treasury.

On entering the cathedral your attention is drawn to the Medieval Font. The ornate decoration was added at a later date. The cover, towering above the font was added to commorate those who died during WWI.

The Susanna winndow has the oldest glass in the cathedral dting back to around 1480. The glass is cleare and brighter that that in the other windows.

On the north side of the cathedral is a tapestry depicting the martydom of St. Edmund. St. Edmund was the king of East Anglia and was shot with arrows and beheaded on 20th November 869 by the Vikings invaders for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. Legend has it that a wolf guarded his severed head until it was removed to Beoderisworth. (Bury St Edmunds).

The Nave, with its high ceiling was built in 1503 and decorated during Victorian times.