St Mary's, Bury St Edmunds - a photo on Flickriver

Bury St Edmunds remarkably boasts two major churches a short distance apart, almost sharing a churchyard, with St Mary's a short walk to the south of the former St James (now the cathedral). St James is now the focus of the diocese and has been magnificently extended for its new role, but St Mary's is by far the more significant medieval building. Given its grand scale it was also considered for cathedral status upon the foundation of the new diocese but was not chosen as its historic value was too great to allow major alteration, whereas St James's was a far more flexible building already much altered and rebuilt, thus it was chosen instead. The sight of these two great churches (and another since lost) standing before the great and now tragically lost Abbey in the monastic precinct must have been an unforgettable sight in the Middle Ages.

St Mary's is one of the grandest parish churches not only in Suffolk but the whole country, impressively proportioned and almost entirely rebuilt in the 15th century aside from the fortress-like tower on the north side that appears to date back at least to the previous century.

The interior also impresses with its great volume but most of all the wonderful original nave roof borne aloft on slender arcades. This is one of the very finest medieval hammerbeam angel roofs to have survived, and the carvings are in wonderful condition, surviving the iconoclasts unblemished unlike so many other examples, the great smiling wooden angels gazing down benevolently as they have done for centuries. The darkened woodwork makes the detail a little difficult to appreciate without a good zoom lens and requires the eye to adjust.to fully enjoy it.

The chancel beyond also possesses a fine 15th century ceiling but of a very different design and much easier see in detail owing to its rich colouring and gilding. Paintings of angels line the edges and carved bosses abound, the former have been retouched but are otherwise largely original. A further ornate medieval ceiling, uniquely adorned with mirrored glass, can be seen over the east end of the south aisle where the cadaver tomb of John Baret (benefactor of much of the rebuilding) can also be found.

The chancel contains further monuments with effigies to members of the Carewe and Drury families, both now sadly bereft of their canopies. A further burial here is that of Mary Rose Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, who was initially interred in the Abbey only to be reburied here after her brother destroyed it. The original monument is lost so her resting place here is now marked by a simple marble slab.

My time at St Mary's was limited since not long after I arrived people started gathering for a funeral so I didn't get all the shots I wanted (so many of the roof carvings thus eluded me). I quietly exited via the delightful Notyngham porch on the north side which has another gem of a medieval ceiling carved with a central pendant (which I was delighted to finally see having found this porch closed on previous visits).

St Mary's is happily normally open and welcoming daily and no visitor should miss it.
www.suffolkchurches.co.uk/burymary.htm

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Bury St. Edmunds (show map)

Taken on: March 4, 2009

Tags:

Bury St Edmunds

church

medieval

architecture « less

Sets appears in: • Church Exteriors • Suffolk Churches more » • Bury St Edmunds - St Mary « less

Groups appears in: • Suffolk Churches

Camera: Olympus u20D,S400D,u400D, f/3.6, 1/200 sec, 8.2mm, ISO 64 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Olympus u20D,S400D,u400D
Aperture:	f/3.6
Exposure Time:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length:	8.2mm
ISO:	64
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	06-1003
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