St Edmund's Day

Bury St Edmunds takes its name from King Edmund, the original Patron Saint of England and King of East Anglia, whose shrine at the Abbey of St Edmund was once one of the most famous and wealthy pilgrimage sites in England.

The brave King Edmund who was killed by Danish invaders on 20 November 869 after refusing to denounce his Christianity.

In 1020, King Canute had a stone church built for Edmund's body and the first abbots arrived. This was the beginning of the Abbey of St Edmund and it became a site of great pilgrimage as people from all over Europe came to visit St Edmund’s shrine.

Every St Edmund's Day Bury St Edmunds shops and businesses decorate their buildings with St Edmund bunting and flags and the St Edmund flag is flown on the Abbey Gate and The Norman Tower and on other public and historic buildings.