Bury St. Edmonds

Tuesday, August 11 we took our first real sightseeing tour to the nearby town of Bury St. Edmonds. It was about a half-hour drive through the Suffolk countryside. The town is fairly large with a large center with pedestrian-only streets full of shopping and restaurants. We walked through town to the Abbey gardens and through the gate and into the area that was once the town abbey. When we heard about the "ruins" we expected a dug out area of one building, but these were spread out over a couple acres and were very extensive. The abbey dates from the 11th century and the more modern (14th century) cathedral stands next to it. The kids had a fabulous time running all through what were once all the buildings which made up the abbey and climbing the walls. This was once a fairly prominent Abbey; Kent and Ethan read the plaque which explains that it was here that several barons committed in 1214 to coercing King John to sign the Magna Carta. It was a beautiful day, made even more fun by the happy coincidence of a Children's Fair being run on the grounds. Madeleine, Bronwyn, and Colin all took turns "jousting." We ended with a walk through the stunning gardens while we slurped our ice cream cones with Cadbury Flake bars stuck in them. Now we are just trying to figure out what to do next...