Numbers 1, 1A, 2, and 3 West Front and Sampsons Tower

Heritage listing

Details BURY ST EDMUNDS TL8564SE ABBEY PRECINCTS 639-1/8/3 Nos.1, 1A, 2 and 3 West Front and 07/08/52 Sampson's Tower (Formerly Listed as: ABBEY PRECINCTS Nos 1, 2 and 3 Churchyard and Abbot Samson's Tower) GV I Formerly known as: Nos 1, 2 & 3 Abbey Ruins and No.3b Abbey Ruins (Samson's Tower) ABBEY PRECINCTS. Remains of the West Front of the Abbey of St Edmund. Begun under Abbot Anselm (1120-1148); completed under Abbot Samson (1182-1211) and his Sacrist, Walter de Banham (c1200-1211). Coursed flint with traces of the original stone facing. EXTERIOR: 3 tall deeply recessed entrance arches in the centre of the front were originally surmounted by a high central tower and spire; remains of the arches are still visible, infilled with later walling. As completed by Abbot Samson, with an octagonal tower and spire at each end, the front was 246 feet across, the widest in Britain: the north end is now missing and the ground level has risen between 4 and 8 feet. Behind the 3 central arches was the west transept with apsidal chapels on 2 storeys to each side of it. 2- and 3-storey houses inserted into the ruinous remains of the arches and the west transept from the later C17, were altered in the C18 and altered again and extended during the C19. The West Front today shows evidence of all these changes. At the south end, Samson's Tower, used as a stable in the C17 and C18 and subsequently as a dye works, was converted into the town's Probate Registry in 1863 to designs by the architect William Rednall. At the same time the adjoining part on the north was made into the registrar's residence (No.3). Both office and house have details in a heavy Victorian Romanesque style. The octagonal tower has a conical tiled roof; tall round-headed windows to the high ground storey; roll-moulded

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.