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Home > Leisure Offers > Station Walks > Bury St Edmunds Station Walk
by Michael Anderton
Background
The impressive Elizabethan style railway station at Bury St. Edmunds was designed by Sancton Wood, built by Alexander Olgivie and brought into use in November 1847. Designed as a terminus with two towers, it once had four covered lines of rails between its platforms, but unusual in that they lead to a turntable and engine shed to the west. Only one platform was used until the Newmarket line opened in 1854, for this the turntable and engine shed were removed together with the overall canopy.
This walk is a town and country ramble, the variety of environments you will encounter provide a wide range of interesting paths and sights to see. Bury St. Edmunds was once home to one of the most powerful monasteries in medieval Europe and has witnessed a great deal of turmoil over the centuries. The busy market town is now the cathedral town of Suffolk, situated at the centre of the west of the county, with its history and the giant abbey ruins now attracting visitors from all over the world.
Walk Route
From the station walk up Station Hill and down to the roundabout by the Ipswich Arms. Cross straight over to Ipswich Street and
then along St. John's Street towards the town centre. Notice the contrasting Salvation Army Citadel with its foundation stone dated 1889, the tall spire of the parish church of St. John the Evangelist and the Friends Meeting House.
Walk straight on into the Cornhill, bearing left of the fine stone Market Cross building ahead, once used as the town hall and now an art gallery. Walk down The Traverse, on the left is the Nutshell, recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest public house in the country. Turn left along Abbeygate Street, the main pedestrianised thoroughfare of the town containing a wide variety of well preserved old shops and business buildings, to reach Angel Hill.
At the imposing Abbey Gate turn right along Angel Hill, past the entrance to the cathedral and left by the Norman Bell Tower. Across the grass are the ruined arches of St. Edmund's Abbey, now filled in to make unusual houses. The main ruins of the abbey lie in the Abbey Gardens, whilst on the lawn ahead is a modern statue of St. Edmund by Elizabeth Frink. To the right at the meeting of pathways is an early 20th century memorial to the Suffolk's martyrs of Queen Mary 1's reign.
Take the path to the right of the houses in the arches to reach the Magistrates Court and then bear left to the pedestrian and cycle path marked to Moreton Hall Estate. This path crosses the Shire Hall staff car park and on to a bridge over the River Linnet at the start of Kevelaer Way. After crossing the river turn right along the circular walk path, by an information board, through the cricket bat willows in The Crankles, continuing on into No Mans Meadows.
These two adjoining areas between the Rivers Lark and Linnet have very different characters, the Crankles is a willow plantation whilst No Man's Meadows are four low-lying water meadows separated by ditches. No Man's Meadows and the Crankles have an interesting history, dating back to the abbey of St Edmundsbury. It appears that the area was created artificially in the medieval period as a result of diverting the course of the River Linnet in order to provide a millstream for the abbey. The meadows would have been used for grazing livestock, whilst it is thought that the Crankles was where the Abbey fishponds were situated. The unusual names of 'No Man's Meadows' and 'The Crankles' are quite old and both are used in Thomas Warren's map of 1747.
Follow the path through the woodland and meadow to a footbridge and steps up to a path left on the bank. Note the large Black Poplar tree on the left, its knobbly trunk contrasting with the tall Lombardy Poplars on the right. The path soon joins a track leading down past the Bury St. Edmunds Rugby Football Club, through the car park and out to the road opposite the Wyevale Garden Centre.
Turn left on the roadside footway past the entrance to the BP fuel station and, after crossing the River Lark, turn left on a bridleway between the river bank and a fenced off field. Follow this path along the river to Kevelaer Way. The river banks and ditches are particularly important for wetland plants including Meadowsweet, its name comes from Medesweete, used to flavour the Anglo-Saxon drink mede, made of fermented honey.
Cross over Kevelaer Way to the Tarmac path leading to the Abbey Gardens, at the first junction bear left to the iron bridge. Cross the River Lark then up through the gardens to a signposted junction. Turn right on the path marked Ram Meadow, past the Alwyne House Tea Rooms, to a gate in the abbey wall leading out to Mustow Street. Turn left to the traffic lights and then right along Northgate Street. Follow the road to the roundabout and across Compeigne Way via the pedestrian crossing. Continue along Out Northgate to reach the massive railway bridge built by the engineer, Charles Russell. Turn left to return to the start of the walk at Bury St Edmunds Train Station.
