St Edmundsbury Cathedral
Treasures
The Facts
The Cathedral’s Treasury is accessed from the Cloisters. This Treasury was added in 2009 as part of the Millennium Project and it is designed to the highest conservation standards. It houses church plate belonging to the Cathedral and to parishes from across the Diocese. Of particular interest is the Bury Cross. This is a replica of the Cloisters Cross, made of walrus ivory and carved in the Abbey of St Edmund in the 12th century.
Above the porch, as you enter the Cathedral, is the Ancient Library, the oldest parish library in the country. Started in 1595 by Dr Miles Mosse as a training library for clergy it contains over 550 books dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Themed exhibitions of books can be found in the Treasury and visits to the Library can be arranged by emailing visits@stedscathedral.org Find out more here.
Look out for several beautiful tapestries in the Cathedral. Over the staircase leading from North transept is an image of Christ in Majesty taken from the Bury Bible. At the top of the same staircase is a tapestry created in 2004 by stitchers at the Cathedral. It depicts the young King Henry VI visiting the shrine of St Edmund, an image taken from John Lydgate’s Life of St Edmund. Lydgate was a monk in the Abbey.
Reflection: 1 Peter 4:10
‘Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.’
What gifts has God given you?
Are you skilled in woodwork, needlework, calligraphy?
Did you know…?
- HM The Queen visited St Edmundsbury Cathedral in 2009 to give out the Royal Maundy money. A sample of the money can be found in the Treasury
- There are 99 figures carved on the Bury Cross
- The wooden donations box in the Treasury was carved by Lenny Goff, who also carved the statues of St Edmund and the Madonna in the Cathedral
If you’d like a more in-depth tour, Cathedral Tours are available! Please speak to a welcomer to find out more details.