Bury St Edmunds

of Bury St Edmunds (British Library)]] An archaeological study in the 2010s on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds uncovered evidence of Bronze Age activity in the area. The dig also uncovered Roman coins from the first and second centuries. Samuel Lewis, writing in 1848, notes the earlier discovery of Roman antiquities, and as with several other writers connects Bury St Edmunds with Villa Faustini or Villa Faustina, although the location of this Roman site is also discussed by E. Gillingwater (1804), who notes the lack of evidence for it being here. The town was one of the royal boroughs of the Saxons. became the burial place of King Edmund the Martyr, who was slain by the Danes in 869, and…

Near the abbey gardens stands Britain's first internally illuminated street sign, the Pillar of Salt, which was built in 1935. The sign is at the terminus of the A1101, Great Britain's lowest road which is mostly below sea level. There is a network of tunnels which are evidence of chalk-workings, though there is no evidence of extensive tunnels under the town centre. Some buildings have inter-communicating cellars. Due to their unsafe nature the chalk-workings are not open to the public, although viewing has been granted to individuals. Some have caused subsidence within living memory, for instance at Jacqueline Close. Among noteworthy buildings is St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds, where…

The Angel Hotel is a Georgian building on Angel Hill. Charles Dickens stayed there while giving readings in the Athenaeum, as mentioned in The Pickwick Papers. Angelina Jolie stayed there while filming Tomb Raider. A coaching inn has existed on the site since the 15th century.