30th July 2018
Updates and News
New for the summer in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
- WW1 Trail commemorates end of conflict centenary – open until Armistice Day 11th November
Eighteen pieces of artwork created by local artists have been installed around the cathedral town of Bury St Edmunds in West Suffolk forming a World War One Trail to commemorate the centenary of the end of the 1914-18 conflict. They will remain in place until Armistice Day on 11th November.
Stories behind the pieces tell the grim reality of war and life in England during WWI and serve to engage and educate as well as take visitors around historic Bury St Edmunds.
The varied artworks include a tank, wooden cross, a colourful and imaginative camel, stained glass window, serpentine trench, oak book, line of decorated handkerchiefs, a Zeppelin made from recycled plastic bottles, peace bells and Victoria Cross amongst others.
Find all the pieces and enter a prize draw to win vouchers to spend in Bury St Edmunds. Trail leaflets are available at the Visitor Information Points in the town centre and more information can be found on the trail website.
The WW1 Trail has been organised by the My WiSH Charity and Our Bury St Edmunds. At the culmination of the trail the pieces will be auctioned with proceeds donated to the Every Heart Matters appeal towards an integrated cardiac centre at West Suffolk Hospital.
Only surviving WW11 Royal Observer Corps operations room
- £2m Guildhall restoration features only surviving WW11 Royal Observer Corps operations room
The Guildhall in Bury St Edmunds is Britain’s oldest continually used civic building with a history that spans more than 800 years and is home to the only surviving Royal Observer Corps WWII operations room in the country. It’s now fully open following an eight-year, £2million restoration, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Formerly the chamber where the Town Council met, a first floor room was set up in 1938 for use during WW2 and became the Royal Observer Corps Centre, protecting Suffolk and relaying vital messages to RAF crews at local air bases. Presented as it would have been during the war, the immersive experience takes visitors through a complete cycle of events from spotting and tracking, to reporting aircraft movements in the local skies.
The accompanying display, ‘Bury St Edmunds in Conflict’, honours some of the local people and the part they played; it also records the story of the child evacuees who came to the town from London at the start of WW2 and pays tribute to our American allies.
Other rooms to visit include the Court Room where the history of The Guildhall is told through the conflict between church and town. ‘Justice’ themes allow the research of trials that have taken place in the Guildhall over the centuries. The Banquet Hall has been conserved as an elegant Regency hall for civic or private events, while the Tudor Kitchen tells the story of the different classes in Bury St Edmunds' history through the perspective of food service. Outside there’s space to relax in lawned areas or the new sensory garden.
