About 42,000 people call it home, and a property sets you back an average of £322,332 – making it over 50 per cent cheaper than London’s £663,348
There are plenty of dinky towns and villages around London which we can go to for a lovely day trip. Take Bury St Edmunds, the historic market and cathedral town in West Suffolk, which is known for its ruins and Georgian influence.
About 42,000 people call it home, and a property sets you back an average of £322,332 – making it over 50 per cent cheaper than London’s £663,348. There’s a rich history to the area, notably the Bury St Edmunds Abbey.
The English Heritage site was founded in 1020 and fast became one of the most powerful monasteries in England before King Henry VIII clamped down on Catholicism in 1539. His favourite sister Mary Tudor, Queen of France, is also buried in the town.
It’s also found its way into culture via author Charles Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers, through a former coaching Inn, which is now the Angel hotel. Literature buffs may also be familiar with nearby West Stow, which is the roots of Peter Pan. A nearby tree is rumoured to have inspired the first edition of the story.
And if you like cool things, you’re also in luck, as the earliest example of a sundial is also believed to be there. You can find a Victorian drinking fountain, with a sundial cube on the top, which is possibly the earliest example of a sundial in the nation.
The town also has its own flower, the Saint Edmund Rose. It was introduced to celebrate the completion of St Edmundsbury Cathedral’s Millennium Tower and was planted in the Abbey Gardens Rose Garden by King Charles and Queen Camilla in 2005.
MyLondon spoke to Green Party Councillor Julia Wakelam about what makes it such a great place. She’s served her ward since 2012 and has lived there for 50 years, so she knows as well as anyone why it’s an ideal place to visit.
She said what people like about the town as adults are the reasons they weren’t so fond it it aged 16. She described it as a ‘safe, fantastic place for young families’ because there is so much going on.’ “There are great, private and state schools, and housing much more affordable than London, Cambridge, and Oxford.” she added. The housing mainly consists of Victorian and Georgian homes.
‘The rich, cultural life’ is also important to the locals, with the town boasting a theatre, music events, and three cinemas. One of these venues is The Theatre Royal, the last surviving Regency playhouse in the country.
She also recommended the ruins, Abbey Gardens, and the market, which is held on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
But the green spaces are also lovely, she said. “We’ve got Nowton Park which is on the edge of town, and we also have West Stow. There’s an Anglo-Saxon village there and lots of walking to do.”
Looking for more from MyLondon? Subscribe to our daily newsletters here for the latest and greatest updates from across London.
