Bury St Edmunds Abbey Day Out

This is the very best sort of home ed day. Sun, ruined abbeys and questions, so, so, SO many questions! The best thing about going to historical places is that I can normally answer those too 🙂 This day out at Bury Gardens, which holds the ruins of the abbey, was just amazing. We grabbed the opportunity of a day out together, because Max had won 35 years worth of bound Motorsport magazines on eBay (yes… really 🙄 ) and needed to collect them. So off we went, as they say

This particular spot was the ruins of Cair Paravel while we had lunch.

Will you look at the grass. It looks like we’re on Safari, not in the South East of England.

The abbey is quite fantastically ruined, more so than lots, with the cobbled innards of what was once walls all laid bare because the local people were expressly given permission to use it as a quarry for building materials.

It was originally built using stone from Barnack, local to us, which Hannah happened to tel me about the other week as a good local walk.

Best place to keep a bunch of abbots 😉

The crypt, which housed many famous people, not least St Edmund himself once upon a time, is still pretty spooky.

The girls love ruins and played and read the info plaques for ages before flumping.

You can say what you like about Henry VIII and his monastery dissolving, but there are some well appointed bijou properties on the market thanks to him 😉

I must read up more on the new cathedral. There are foundation stones with 1964 on it and if that’s when it was built, thank goodness they kept whoever designed the Coventry monstrosity well away 😆

The guide book was useful.

Up to a point 😉

But it was this which enthralled me the most. I do so love Elizabeth Chadwick for opening this part of history up to me.

Couldn’t resist reading the poem out.

Argh – I forgot to add – I got home to an email from a blog reader, Veronica, who had spotted us out on our day and recognised us. Thank you very much V for making me feel like a celeb for probably my only time ever!!!!

Highlight of the day for Max?