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Angel Hill, BURY ST. EDMUNDS, IP33 1LU

This large house, number 1 Angel Hill, has now a doctors' surgery on the ground floor with living accommodation above. Reconstructed in white brick in 1816 on an older site. Linked to a former stable block on Angel Lane. Many original internal features survive. Listed, grade II, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1141151 Now used as a car park, Angel Hill the traditional market place was, until the 1870s, home to the famous Bury Fair. People from Europe and across the Far East came to buy and sell. Bury St Edmunds is a market town which is the cultural and retail centre for West Suffolk and is known for brewing (Greene King) and sugar (British Sugar). There is scattered evidence of earlier activity but essentially Bury St Edmunds began as one of the royal boroughs of the Saxons and a monastery was founded which became the burial place of King Edmund. A new Benedictine abbey was built in 1020 which became rich and powerful and the town was laid out on a grid pattern by Abbot Baldwin. After the dissolution the abbey became ruinous. A new church, later the cathedral, was begun in the early 16th century.

This large house at number 2 Angel Hill is now part of the Angel Hotel adjacent Image Built, in white brick, circa 1814 on the site of an earlier building. There are Greek elements in the design of the door surround and of the 1st floor railings. Some fine original features remain. Listed, grade II, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1141152 Now used as a car park, Angel Hill the traditional market place was, until the 1870s, home to the famous Bury Fair. People from Europe and across the Far East came to buy and sell. Bury St Edmunds is a market town which is the cultural and retail centre for West Suffolk and is known for brewing (Greene King) and sugar (British Sugar). There is scattered evidence of earlier activity but essentially Bury St Edmunds began as one of the royal boroughs of the Saxons and a monastery was founded which became the burial place of King Edmund. A new Benedictine abbey was built in 1020 which became rich and powerful and the town was laid out on a grid pattern by Abbot Baldwin. After the dissolution the abbey became ruinous. A new church, later the cathedral, was begun in the early 16th century.

The Athenaeum Angel Hill Bury St.Edmunds

Angel Hill, Bury

Grade I Listed 17th century house converted into an Assembly House in 1714. It was probably Sir Roger Martin of Long Melford who rebuilt the house as seen in various 18th century prints at which point it had three storeys and was known as the ‘New’ or ‘White House’. In 1713 Sir Roger Martin sold the property to John Eastland a dancing master who began to hold public assemblies there. The White House was then rebuilt with two storeys in 1789, by George Anderson who had purchased it in 1777. At this point, the building was known as the ‘New Assembly Rooms’. Anderson was bankrupt and sold it to James Oakes heading a consortium of 12 men in 1801. The 1804 alterations were financed (at a cost of £5000) by subscribers, which is why the building became known as the ‘New Subscription Rooms’ and in 1806 James Oakes conveyed it to the principal subscribers. The Athenaeum Literary Institute acquired the building in 1854. In 1935, the Athenaeum (library, reading room or institution for the promotion of literary or scientific learning) was acquired by the Bury St Edmunds Corporation. From the 1950s to the present day (2017) owned by St Edmundsbury Borough Council and managed in association with the Council’s catering partners, Sodexo Prestige, it is known for playing host to wedding receptions, balls, conferences, dinners and more.

The iconic Athenaeum in Angel Hill was built in the 17th century as a large three storey house which was converted into an Assembly House in 1714. The building was remodelled in 1789 when it was reduced to two storeys. Much altered in 1805 when the present north front (seen here) was constructed and the ballroom added. The main internal feature is the ornate Georgian ballroom. Listed, with the attached railings, grade I, with details at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1376999 Now used as a car park, Angel Hill the traditional market place was, until the 1870s, home to the famous Bury Fair. People from Europe and across the Far East came to buy and sell. Bury St Edmunds is a market town which is the cultural and retail centre for West Suffolk and is known for brewing (Greene King) and sugar (British Sugar). There is scattered evidence of earlier activity but essentially Bury St Edmunds began as one of the royal boroughs of the Saxons and a monastery was founded which became the burial place of King Edmund. A new Benedictine abbey was built in 1020 which became rich and powerful and the town was laid out on a grid pattern by Abbot Baldwin. After the dissolution the abbey became ruinous. A new church, later the cathedral, was begun in the early 16th century.

"Built early in the 18th century as Assembly Rooms where people could play cards and attend balls". www.athenaeumbse.co.uk

There cannot be many places in the UK that have been the main residence of the monarch of another country, like this building next to the Angel Hotel on Bury's Angel Hill. In fact the tale of Louis Philippe and his Queen Amalie (spellings vary) is little known. The British Government paid them a retainer while Napoleon was in power, but it was the French people that put them in power in 1830. Philippe and Amalie operated as constitutional monarchs with an elected parliament but eventually in 1848 the French people decided they really didn't want a king, and the pair were sent into exile. For no obvious reason they finished up in Bury St. Edmunds, where they made friends with the Marquess of Bristol. He lived at nearby Ickworth House, which still has a pair of vases carrying the couple's portraits. Later the couple moved south and stayed in the Marquess' Brighton house for a while.

Entrance to a doctors surgery Angel Hill Bury St.Edmunds Suffolk. For detail of plaques see http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/374975