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St Edmund's Church
St Edmund King and Martyr Church Bury St Edmunds
Church entrance
St Edmund's Church
52°14′27″N 0°42′47″E / 52.2407°N 0.7131°E / 52.2407; 0.7131
OS grid reference	TL853637
Location	Bury St Edmunds
Country	United Kingdom
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	StEdmundKM.org.uk
History
Status	Parish church
Founder(s)	Society of Jesus
Dedication	Edmund the Martyr
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	Grade II* listed
Designated	7 August 1952
Architect(s)	Charles Day
Style	Classical Revival
Completed	1837
Administration
Province	Westminster
Diocese	East Anglia
Deanery	Bury St Edmunds
Parish	St Edmund's Church

St Edmund's Church is a Roman Catholic 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.

History

Foundation

In 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.

Construction

By 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 takes 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.

Interior

Many 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.

Parish

The church has three Sunday Masses, two on Sunday morning at 08:30 and 10:30 and a Sunday evening Mass at 18:00. There are also weekday Masses interspersed throughout the week.

The parish has a close relationship with the nearby St Edmund's Catholic Primary School. The school was opened in 1882. In addition, the pupils join in with the Mass on Holy Days in the parish.

See also

• Society of Jesus
• Diocese of East Anglia

References

1. ^ British listed buildings retrieved 16 December 2013
2. Parish at Diocese of East Anglia retrieved 16 December 2013
3. St Edmund's Church History Group retrieved 20 October 2013
4. About us at StEdmunds.Suffolk.DBPrimary.com retrieved 16 December 2013

External links

• St Edmund's Parish site

v t e Diocese of East Anglia
Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia
Bishops of East Anglia I: Alan Clark II: Peter Smith III: Michael Evans IV: Alan Hopes V: Peter Collins
Churches St John the Baptist Cathedral, Norwich - Cathedral of St John the Baptist St Edmund's Church, Bury St Edmunds Mother of Good Counsel Priory, Clare Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church, Cambridge St Laurence's Church, Cambridge St Etheldreda's Church, Ely Sacred Heart Church, St Ives Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Lowestoft St Mary's Church, Great Yarmouth Our Lady and St Peter, Aldeburgh Saint Pancras Church, Ipswich St Mary's Church, Ipswich St Mary Magdalen's Church, Ipswich St Mark's Church, Ipswich Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Woodbridge St Dominic's Church, Downham Market Our Lady of the Annunciation Church, King's Lynn Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham Our Lady and St Charles Borromeo, Wisbech Saint Peter and All Souls, Peterborough
Patronal Feasts of the Diocese St Felix (8 March) Our Lady of Walsingham (24 September) St Edmund the Martyr (20 November)
Schools Moreton Hall, Bury St Edmunds Notre Dame High School, Norwich St Alban's Catholic High School, Ipswich St Bede's Inter-Church School St Benedict's Catholic School St John Fisher Catholic High School, Peterborough St Joseph's College, Ipswich St Mary's School, Cambridge
See also: Buckden Towers Cambridge University Catholic Chaplaincy Cambridge Blackfriars Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology Quidenham Hall
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• Roman Catholic churches in Suffolk
• Bury St Edmunds
• Roman Catholic churches completed in 1837
• 1837 establishments in England
• Grade II* listed churches in Suffolk
• Grade II* listed Roman Catholic churches in England
• Greek Revival church buildings in the United Kingdom
• 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom
• Neoclassical church buildings in England
• English churches dedicated to St Edmund