SMART – PROUD SPONSORS OF THE BURY ABBEY 1000 EVENT

You may find it hard to believe that one of the UK’s leading garden room manufacturers is based in a village in the heart of Suffolk. But you would be forgiven because Suffolk is the jewel in East Anglia’s crown and where better for our amazing business to be based.

Nestled in Thurston, just a stone’s throw from the historic market town of Bury St Edmunds, we have everything that we need to manufacture our stunning ranges of garden rooms, offices and studios.

Our 2 acre site contains our very own mill, housing no less than 3 CNC machines, a paint shop, a finishing area, offices and enough space to house our ever-growing fleet of delivery vans and vehicles. All surrounded by the beautiful Suffolk countryside and only 6 miles from the historic market town of Bury St Edmunds.

So it is only natural that we should sponsor The Bury Abbey 1000 Celebrations.

The Abbey of St Edmund 1000^th Anniversary is a year of celebrations to mark 1,000 years since the founding of the Abbey of St Edmund in Bury St Edmunds by King Canute. The Abbey of Bury St Edmunds was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England, until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. It was a centre of pilgrimage as the burial place of the Anglo-Saxon martyr-king Saint Edmund, killed by the Great Heathen Army of Danes in 869.

People came from all over England and further afield to visit the Shrine of St Edmund and it became one of the most famous and wealthy pilgrimage locations in England, visited by royalty.

The ruins of the abbey church and most other buildings are merely rubble cores, but two very large medieval gatehouses survive, as well as two secondary medieval churches built within the abbey complex

 

 

The Abbey is at the heart of Bury St Edmunds and the majority of it is open to the public and free to visit.

Internationally renowned for its colourful and attractive displays and the heritage of its backdrop make the Abbey gardens a very special place to visit and visitors come from all over the world to see it. According to VisitEngland, the Abbey Gardens and ruins is the fifth most visited free attraction in England!

The gardens are framed by the abbey wall that runs from the 13th century Abbot’s Bridge via the imposing Abbey Gate to St Edmundsbury Cathedral.

It is not hard to understand why the Abbey Gardens have won the prestigious Green Flag Award on numerous occasions, it is a stunning venue for the many and varied cultural events which take place in Bury St Edmunds including the annual Bury St Edmunds Festival.

The Abbey 1000 celebrations are being coordinated by the Abbey 1000 Group (made up of different organisations in the town), alongside The Abbey of St Edmund Heritage Partnership.

They have created a full calendar of events, as detailed below:

April – November – Special Abbey Tours (Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides)

May 1 – November 30 – Abbey 1000 Sculpture Exhibition

May 2 – June 9 – Secrets of The Abbey: History Returns Exhibition at St Edmundsbury Cathedral

May – Pilgrimage 2022

May 14 & 15 – Abiding Wisdom at St Edmundsbury Cathedral

May 20 & 21 – Bury BioBlitz (Abbey Gardens and Water Meadows)

May 21 – November 20 – Abbey 1000 Heritage Trail

May 26 – MR James Lecture at The Athenaeum

May 28 – Abbey 1000 Concert at St Edmundsbury Cathedral (Suffolk Philharmonic Orchestra)

June 20 – 27 – St Edmundsbury Cathedral Flower Exhibition

June 23 – Abbey 1000 Midsummer Party in the Abbey Gardens

June 26 – Churches Together Summer Celebration in the Abbey Gardens

June 29 – Schools Celebration

July 1 – September 30 – Exhibition – The Abbey of St Edmund: Artisan and Pilgrimage in the Liberty of St Edmund

July 16 – Picnic in the Park (Abbey Gardens)

November 17 – 20 – St Edmund’s Day Weekend Spectacle of Light

November 19 – St Edmund Lecture at St Edmundsbury Cathedral

SMART is very proud of its local heritage and is proud to be a sponsor of this amazing event.

Matt Moss, managing director said, “we have many staff who live in and around Bury St Edmunds and it is great to be able to support our local community in this way. It is also important to collaborate with other local businesses to really promote the benefits of our stunning historical town”.

If you would like to know more details about the planned activities, then please click here.

The SMART showroom is located 6 miles from the heart of Bury St Edmunds, so if you are considering a Garden room, office or studio, and plan to visit Bury for one of the planned events, why not take the 10-minute detour and take a look at our amazing buildings too.

Our internal & external showrooms are open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and Saturday mornings. We request that all viewings are by appointment in order to provide you with the personal service you deserve, so please give us a call to arrange a visit.

There is tea and coffee aplenty and we are very dog friendly, so please do bring along your four-legged friends to brighten our day.

Once you have decided on your perfect SMART, you can then explore medieval streets and architecture and Georgian squares. Eat and drink at award-winning restaurants, gastropubs and cafés. Shop in independent boutiques and leading high street stores.

I am sure you will agree, a trip out to Suffolk and SMART has its benefits, so don’t delay, give us a call today, we’ll be thrilled to see you.

0800 242 5559
contactus@smartgardenoffices.co.uk