St Edmundsbury Cathedral

St Edmundsbury Cathedral
Cathedral Church of St James
Cathedral from the east
St Edmundsbury Cathedral Shown within Suffolk
Coordinates: 52°14′38″N 0°43′00″E / 52.243889°N 0.716667°E / 52.243889; 0.716667
Location	Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
Country	England
Denomination	Church of England
Tradition	Liberal Catholic
Website	www.stedscathedral.co.uk
Architecture
Style	Gothic, Gothic Revival
Years built	1503–2007
Administration
Diocese	St Edmundsbury & Ipswich (since 1914)
Province	Canterbury
Clergy
Bishop(s)	The Right Reverend Martin Seeley The Right Reverend Mike Harrison
Dean	Frances Ward
Subdean	Matthew Vernon, Canon Pastor
Precentor	Philip Banks
Laity
Director of music	James Thomas
Organist(s)	Alexander Binns

The Right Reverend Martin Seeley

St Edmundsbury Cathedral (formally entitled The Cathedral Church of St James) is the cathedral for the Church of England's Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It is the seat of the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and is in Bury St Edmunds. Originating in the 11th century, it was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th century as a parish church and became a cathedral in 1914; it has been considerably enlarged in recent decades.

A church has stood on the site of the cathedral since at least 1065, when St Denis's Church was built within the precincts of Bury St Edmunds Abbey. In the early 12th century the Abbot, Anselm had wanted to make a pilgrimage along the Way of St James to Santiago de Compostela. He was unsuccessful and instead rebuilt St Denis's and dedicated the new church to Saint James, which served as the parish church for the north side of Bury St Edmunds. Anselm was also responsible for building the abbey gate tower, known today as the Norman Tower, alongside St James's, which also served as the church's belfry and it continues in this function to the present day.

This church was largely rebuilt, starting in 1503, in the Perpendicular style by John Wastell, a master mason who also worked on King's College, Cambridge. Further alterations to the building were undertaken in the 18th and 19th centuries, notably a new chancel and a hammerbeam roof by George Gilbert Scott. When the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich was created in 1914, St James's Church was made the cathedral. In 1959 Benjamin Britten wrote the Fanfare for St Edmundsbury for a "Pageant of Magna Carta" held in the cathedral grounds.