Bury St Edmunds

The main historical and architectural features of Bury St Edmunds.

This film, titled throughout, shows usually static shots of the main historical and architectural features of Bury St. Edmunds. Many of the titles are historically inaccurate. In the scenes, Bury St. Edmunds moves around the shot. People carry on with their everyday business, walking the streets to do their shopping, riding bicycles and driving horses and carts. There is a car in the shot of Abbey Gate Street. The film shows the Fox Inn in East Gate Street. This is 15th century, not 13th century as in the titles. The next shot is of the 15th century Guildhall, not the 13th century Town Hall as suggested. The almost empty Butter Market features. Moyses Hall was not a Jewish residence, there was a pig market outside. It was built c.1180 and is older than indicated in the film. It may have been a Merchant's House. There are shots of the Abbey Ruins. The piers of the central tower were considered to be the site of the High Altar. The Dovecote is shown, along with a length of wall that would once have been one wall of a line of houses or shops. The Abbots Bridge and the Abbey Gate are filmed. The bridge may be 12th or 13th Century. It was strengthened in the 14th century. The camera pans the Abbey ruins giving a good indication of their overall appearance in 1913. Shots on Abbey Gate Street show traffic, including a car. There is a long shot of the Norman Tower and a close up shot of the Gate Way. The film ends showing the ruined West Front of the Abbey Church.

Featured Buildings

Moyses Hall; Bury St. Edmunds Abbey; The Norman Tower; The Guildhall; The Fox Inn

Keywords

Architecture; Buildings; History; Street scenes

Intertitles

A 13th Century Inn.The Town Hall: 14th Century.The Butter Market.Moyses Hall. A Jewish dwelling house of the 13th century.Abbey Ruins. The High Alter where the barons met Cardinal Langton when they swore to force King John to grant Magna Carta.Abbey Ruins. The Dovecote. A panoramic view of the Abbey Ruins. Abbots Bridge. Built in the 13th century.The Abbey Gate. Abbey Gate Street. Bury St. Edmunds.The Norman Tower. Gateway of Norman Tower. Ruined West Front of the Abbey Church.

Background Information

This film would have been shown in the county cinemas.The shots of the Abbot's Bridge and of the Abbey Gatehouse are hand-coloured. This is a late, and a quite crude, example of the genre.