St Edmund'S Church, Bury St Edmunds

St Edmund's church is a Parish church in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1763 and the current church was built on that site in 1837. It is situated on Westgate street in the centre of the town. It is administered by the Diocese of East Anglia, in its Bury St Edmunds deanery. It is a Grade II* listed building. HistoryFoundationIn 1762, Fr Gage, a Jesuit, came to Bury St Edmunds to start a mission to serve the local Catholics of the area. Work on a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception started that year. It was completed a year later in 1763. The present church is on the site of the same chapel, so it is the oldest site of post-reformation Catholic worship in the Diocese of East Anglia. ConstructionBy 1837, the size of the chapel was no longer sufficient for the expanding congregation. This led the Jesuits to ask the same architect who built St Francis Xavier Church in Hereford, Charles Day, to design a church for Bury St Edmunds. It was dedicated to St Edmund the Martyr, from whom Bury St Edmunds gets its name. The two churches, St Francis Xavier in Hereford and St Edmund's were both done in the same Grecian style and built in the same years. InteriorMany of the features around the main entrance, came from nearby Rushbrooke Hall in 1959. Originally, the marble surround came from a fireplace there. In the westside of the side of a church is a Blessed sacrament chapel. This was consecrated in 1791, but fell into disuse until 1971 when it was re-dedicated. Also, in the north side of the church ware three blocked arches. These contain the gravestones of Jesuit priests who served the parish in the early 19th-century.

St Edmund's church is a Parish church in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1763 and the current church was built on that site in 1837. It is situated on Westgate street in the centre of the town. It is administered by the Diocese of East Anglia, in its Bury St Edmunds deanery. It is a Grade II* listed building. HistoryFoundationIn 1762, Fr Gage, a Jesuit, came to Bury St Edmunds to start a mission to serve the local Catholics of the area. Work on a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception started that year. It was completed a year later in 1763. The present church is on the site of the same chapel, so it is the oldest site of post-reformation Catholic worship in the Diocese of East Anglia. ConstructionBy 1837, the size of the chapel was no longer sufficient for the expanding congregation. This led the Jesuits to ask the same architect who built St Francis Xavier Church in Hereford, Charles Day, to design a church for Bury St Edmunds. It was dedicated to St Edmund the Martyr, from whom Bury St Edmunds gets its name. The two churches, St Francis Xavier in Hereford and St Edmund's were both done in the same Grecian style and built in the same years. InteriorMany of the features around the main entrance, came from nearby Rushbrooke Hall in 1959. Originally, the marble surround came from a fireplace there. In the westside of the side of a church is a Blessed sacrament chapel. This was consecrated in 1791, but fell into disuse until 1971 when it was re-dedicated. Also, in the north side of the church ware three blocked arches. These contain the gravestones of Jesuit priests who served the parish in the early 19th-century.