BURY ST, EDMUNDS, or ST. EDMUNDSBLTRY, an ancient borough in Suffolkshire, on the Upper Larke, 26 m. n.w. of Ipswich. It is well built, and delightfully situated. Pop. '71, 14,928. It returns two members to parliament. It has a trade in wool, but ter, corn, and cheese, but no manufactures. A very complete system of drainage has been carried out, the sewage being conveyed to a distance, and, by means of pumps, applied to irrigation. A new corn exchange was erected in 1862; in 1864, the Suffolk general hospital was rebuilt. B. received its name from Edmund, the Saxon king and martyr, who was crowned here on Christmas day, 856; taken prisoner, and put to by the Danes. On the site of his tomb, six priests founded a monastery: and here Canute raised a Benedictine abbey, which in time became the richest and most important in England, save that of Glastonbury. From 1020 to its dissolution by Henry VIII.. it was ruled over by a line of 33 abbots. The abbot was a spiritual baron of parliament, had judicial authority in all causes within the liberty of B., had the power of inflicting capital punishment, and the privilege of coining. At the dissolution, the annual income was equivalent to £,50,000 of our money. Of this magnificent establishment, little now remains but the western gate, erected in 1327, a noble relic of the decorated Gothic style; and the "church-gate," a quadrangular tower of massive simplicity, 86 ft. high.
The churchyard, to which this tower formed the portal, includes, besides the abbey ruins and some other buildings, the fine old churches of St. 3Iary and St. James. The celebrated grammar-school of B. was founded by king Edward VI. in 1550, and is free to sons of the inhabitants of the town. It has 2 scholarships at Cambridge, and 6 _,•.
exhibitions to each university, and has produced many eminent scholars. Among the many religious and charitable institutions connected with the abbey, of which portions still exist, is St. Saviour's hospital, founded by that notable abbot, Samson, whose life and actions, as recorded by Jocelyn of Brakelond, Mr. Carlyle has so vividly recalled in his Past and Present. The poet Lydgate was a monk in this abbey; and sir Nicholas Bacon was born here. At B., king Johnfirst met his indomitable barons before be signed Magna Charta. Parliaments were held here in 1272, 1296, and 1446, the last of which ordered the arrest of Humphrey, the good duke of Gloucester, who was found dead in his bed the morning after his arrest; and sovereigns, as late as Elizabeth's time, were often nobly entertained at St. Edmund's town. Three m. s.w. of B., the Mar quis of Bristol has a splendid seat, Ickworth park, a circular pile 90 ft. in diameter, and 140 ft. high.