So this entry is coming to you some time after my last post as I felt it was time to refresh the blog and update it a little bit. I came across the photos I took sometime ago, in fact back in 2015. I was on a day out visiting places from my childhood around Norfolk and Suffolk when I came across this site. Having visited Bury St. Edmunds many times before I had never explored this particular area of the town however I am so glad I did on this particular day and I stumbled across a ruin on a fork in the road.
This ruin looked very much like a church with a grand arched stone window, carefully carved. Flint walls with stone blocks at the ends grew out of the grass to a height of approximately five or six foot. Remains of pillars or decoration could be seen in the form of carved stone pillar bases.
Knowing nothing of this site I started my usual research on the Internet to see what I could find, I was intriguied by this site and wanted to know more. I was fairly certain that it was monastic in origin however I was uncertain as to what form it was. Was it a church, or maybe it could have been a small abbey, or maybe a buiding linked to the grand abbey at Bury St. Edmunds.
This site is located just outside the town to the east on Eastgate Street.
After sometime of research I found out that the site I explored was once a monastic hospital known as St Nicholas Hospital. It was formed before the year 1224 however an exact date is not known by an unknown abbot of Bury St. Edmunds. It was administered by and consisted of a master, a chaplian and several brethren.
One of the first recorded entries for the hospital was in 1224. This entry relates to the permission received from King Henry III by the master of the hospital to hold a feast and vigial of the Translation of St. Nicholas. Other entries in history around the hospital have been recorded surrounding pardons and charters which relate to the hospital aquiring land in and around Bury St. Edmunds.
Very little is known about this site, we know it was a hospital but was this a hospital in the sense of a Leprosy hospital, was it to care for the poor and sick. Little information about its use exists.
My Thoughts on the site
Having stumbled across this site I needed to stop and take a look. I was intrigued and interested to find out more. Unfortunately I was unable to obtain access to the other side of the walls however I explored the side of the walls I could. I took some photos of the wonderful stone and flint work and was very impressed with the old window. It appears as though the walls and stonework are still tended to and repaired when necassary. While the site was not hugh and neither was this particular section of the building it clearly had a monastic tilt to it, it was clear to see that throughout its life it was in someway connected to a monastic life.
Background information and reading with some information contained within this post has been adapted from material at https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/suff/vol2/p134
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