Abbey Gate (Bury St. Edmunds)
The Abbey Gate is an impressively large and powerful gateway in the historic market town of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk.
It was a gateway to the Abbey of St. Edmund, first established to house the relics of the martyred East Anglian King.
The gateway was used as a place for interaction between the townspeople and the monks, where business was carried on and medical advice sought and given.
As in other towns, though, resentment grew among the people of the town, and in 1327 a riot involving 3,000 people led to tearing down the gateway, abducting the abbot and killing several monks.
In 1347, the Abbey Gate was rebuilt, this time much stronger, with arrow slits, a portcullis, a guardroom and a mighty door. The inhabitants of the town had to pay for this.
Today the Abbey Gate, situated on the picturesque Angel Hill, leads into the lovely public gardens known as Abbey Gardens, with flower beds, an aviary and of course the Abbey Ruins.