We left the hotel at about 9.00am for the 1 hour journey to Bury St. Edmunds. We were met there, at the War Memorial on Angel Hill, by 2 guides, Dee and Peta. We split into 2 groups, this time being organised between those who wanted a modest pace tour (the Council's standard 'historical tour' of the town) that would cover part of the town as well as the Abbey grounds (taken by Peta) and a shorter & slower tour just of the Abbey grounds (taken by Dee). Fortunately (for the guides) there was a natural 16 & 16 split between the groups so that worked well. Indeed, even though the 90 minute duration was not quite enough for the 'modest pace' group to complete the full tour that younger tourists might take, most of the slower group found that the gentler pace that they took suited them well. After the tour, we had about 2 hours free time for lunch and wandering around the town. Most of us did not know Bury St. Edmunds but we were very impressed both by the Abbey grounds - none (?) of us had realised how significant that Abbey must have been in its heyday - and by the bustle around the town. Indeed, quite a few people said that they hoped to go back there sometime. Some people took the opportunity of being in Bury St. Edmunds to meet up with old friends: Michael & Frances Edge (Michael was vicar in Ewyas Harold 1982-1993). A web site on Bury may be seen here.

We left Bury at about 1.30pm for the 30 minute trip to Kentwell Hall. We did not have a guided tour there but we were met by the charismatic owner, Patrick Phillips, who told us a little about the history of the estate and of his involvement in saving it. After that we were able to wander around as we wished in the 3 hours we had there. Their web site can be seen here whilst Wikipedia's article on Kentwell Hall may be seen here . A copy of their 2017 brochure may be seen here (PDF file opening on a new page).

Reference	Description	Images : maximum size : 600 pixels in either direction
E17L4A	A map showing the route taken. We were in the coach for about 60 miles.
E17L4B	Another eye-opener! Who knew that Bury St. Edmunds used to have such a large abbey and that it had such a history? In the words of Wikipedia: "In 1327, the Great Riot occurred, in which the local populace led an armed revolt against the Abbey. The burghers were angry at the overwhelming power, wealth and corruption of the monastery, which ran almost every aspect of local life with a view to enriching itself. The riot destroyed the main gate and a new, fortified gate was built in its stead. However, in 1381 during the Great Uprising, the Abbey was sacked and looted again. This time the Prior was executed". [Photo: Martin or Dianne.]
E17L4C	After our tours we split up, taking time out for lunch with some spending time in the Cathedral (see right). Bury impressed almost everyone by how busy it was. It had a real atmosphere. [Photos: Martin & Dianne.]
E17L4D	There was a lot to see at Kentwell Hall including the Grade 1 Listed house itself, much of which is still lived in by the Phillips family, a walled garden, a farm with a number of rare animals, a range of outbuildings, and grounds (parts of which are used for historical enactments). Some were not convinced that the way the house had been furnished was 'quite right' (for the Phillips family had had to furnish it themselves almost from scratch, no doubt needing many visits to many house auctions over many years) but others were very impressed how they had managed to restore and keep alive a house & estate that would probably have failed without them. [Photos: Martin & Dianne.]
E17L4E	Some of the outbuildings at Kentwell are used for weddings and other events. Others act as museums, exhibiting much of the wealth of equipment that the Phillips family have accumulated over the years. [Photos: Peter.]

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