St Stephen's Chapel, Bures

This peaceful yet royally well-connected chapel is a stopping point on the 79-mile St Edmund Way pilgrim path, running from Manningtree to Brandon

Highlights

• Coronation site of St Edmund

England’s one-time patron saint, King Edmund, was crowned here on Christmas day in 855. St Edmund was greatly venerated in medieval England, making this an important part of the early Christian story – even if the event itself has relatively minor spiritual significance. The chapel here was built and consecrated by Archbishop Langton in 1218 to mark the site of the coronation, so important had St Edmund become to medieval Christians.

After the Reformation, it was deconsecrated and turned into a barn, then a plague house, and then farmworkers’ cottages. The fact that it is once again a working church is thanks mainly to a Miss Badcock of Fysh House, who organized its restoration in the 1920s with her brother-in-law Colonel William Probert. It is still referred to as Chapel Barn and has a thatched roof. Services are held here by different church groups.

The location feels rather remote to serve as the capital of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, standing as it does amid rolling fields with one of the best views in East Anglia, but the identification is believed to be correct. Historical records refer to a place called ‘Burva,’ which relates to the current name. The chapel has historical significance as the final resting place of four of the de Veres, earls of Oxford.

St Edmund was revered for both his personal virtues and the effort he put into defending the country against pagan invaders. His story is covered in more detail under Hoxne and Bury St Edmunds.

Directions‍

Chapel Barn, off Cuckoo Hill, Bures CO8 5LD

W3W: study.total.conspired

GPS: 51.9754N 0.7906E

Bures railway station 1.5km‍

The chapel is a little way out of Bures itself. Head north through Bures on the B1508. After you cross the river in the center of town, turn off the main road after 300 yards when it bears left, going straight on up Cuckoo Hill. Continue for 1/3 of a mile to Fysh House Farm, which is on the right (the postcode will probably take a satnav device here). There is very little space for parking if you are in a car. Follow the public footpath beside the farm buildings – it is also a drive that leads all the way to the chapel, about 10 minutes’ walk. The chapel is kept locked, but the helpful landowner ensures that a key is held at the house opposite, at 1 Fysh House in the farm, and at the vicarage.