Bury St Edmunds abbey digitally reconstructed in English Heritage project

A new interpretation of what the Abbey of St Edmund would have looked like before it was destroyed has been unveiled in Bury St Edmunds.

English Heritage, the charity which looks after the site, embarked on the year-long project to digitally reconstruct the historic monument as part of the Abbey 1000 celebrations.

The 13 boards are located around the Abbey Gardens and re-imagines the abbey, depicting the grandeur of the site and helping those walking among the ruins to interpret the site’s remains.

Libby Ranzetta, chair of Abbey 1000 CIC, said: "English Heritage have been working with the Heritage Partnership of the Abbey of St Edmund to create a series of interpretation panels for the abbey ruins.

"A big part of this project is to develop a digital model of how we think the abbey church would have looked like. The interpretation boards feature images of that digital model.

"There have been other interpretations of what people thought it looked like, but this is the most accurate that we can get with all the data we have - from the ruins that still stand, from other buildings built at the same time by the Normans elsewhere in France and in England, and using all this data they've constructed this digital model.

"It's really exciting and the fact that they were ready in time for the Picnic in the Park was the icing on the cake."

From the ruins, it is hard to imagine what the abbey, once one of the largest and grandest monasteries in England, would have looked like. The abbey was named after the martyred King Edmund and was a place of pilgrimage. Around 1066, the abbey was ranked fourth among English abbeys in wealth and political importance. This importance was ultimately its downfall, and during the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII had the Abbey demolished to demonstrate his power and control.

The boards highlight the story of King Edmund who is buried in the abbey church, helping visitors to understand the site's historical importance. Finally, a 3D model of the site, pre-Reformation, has been refurbished and restored by the original model-maker Nigel Purdy.

Work began to digitally reconstructing the abbey in early 2021, with the entire site surveyed. A large collection of stonework from the abbey, held in English Heritage's stores in Moyse's Hall Museum, was also analysed. This information, combined with research, enabled the team at English Heritage to create the initial sketches of the lost abbey which were then developed into a 3D model. The reconstruction is one of the largest and most complex reconstruction that English Heritage has undertaken on one of its sites.

Alex Sydney, property development director English Heritage said: “The Abbey of St Edmund is a hugely important historical site, and of a scale and grandeur which, until now, was difficult to envisage.

"Now, thanks to these detailed digital reconstructions, visitors can truly understand how spectacular the abbey once was. It has been wonderful to work in partnership with the local community and local groups to deliver this project, and as one of our most popular free to enter sites, we can’t wait to welcome more visitors to re-imagine the site as it stood for hundreds of years.”

Rev Canon Matthew Vernon, chairman of the Abbey of St Edmund Heritage Partnership, added: “The positive reaction to the new interpretation panels from members of the public was obvious as soon as they had been installed. English Heritage have done a fantastic job with the new panels and the Heritage Partnership is delighted to have collaborated with our English Heritage colleagues.

"We hope with the new interpretation everyone can benefit from the amazing heritage of the Abbey.”

Cllr Jo Rayner, cabinet member for leisure and culture at West Suffolk Council, said: “The Abbey Gardens is a very beautiful and popular place enjoyed every year by thousands of people from our local communities and tourists visiting the area.

"But the gardens are just one part of a site that was once an Abbey of national and international significance. So in this year in which we celebrate 1,000 years since the Abbey of St Edmund was founded, it is great to see this project which will help widen people’s understanding of how it once looked and how various areas were once used.”

There will be a visual talk about how English Heritage carried out the digital reconstruction in the autumn.