Welcome to the Bury St Edmunds Past and Present Society website.
Welcome to the Bury St Edmunds Past & Present Society, and the wonderful Spanton Jarman Photographic Collection.
The Society was formed in 1960 to promote and encourage an interest in the history of our town and its surrounding area. To this end we hold a series of lectures each year from October through to March on topics of local history. Meetings are held in the newly restored Medieval Guildhall in Guildhall Street, Bury St Edmunds.
FORTHCOMING LECTURE
2024 – 2025 Lecture programme
Monday 28th October
Kate Jewell
Scaffolds and Stage Devils: Medieval Drama in Bury St Edmunds and Beyond
It is easy to forget that England had a very rich tradition of plays and drama before Shakespeare came on the scene. And Suffolk had one of the richest traditions of all – Suffolk playgoers wanted plays to be big, bold, explosive and spectacular! This talk will explore how plays were put on, where they could be seen, what plays were about and how far people would walk to see one. Warning- you may hear a rude song in Latin and meet a stage devil or two…
All meetings are held in
The Guildhall,
Guildhall Street,
Bury St Edmunds,
IP33 1QB
and begin at 7.30pm.
News
About The Society
The Society’s NAME is taken from the title of a book by Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), the eminent author, biographer and historian. Published in 1843, its title was Past and Present. Carlyle devoted the whole of Book II to a description of life in the Abbey of St Edmund. The earliest edition of the Jocelin of Brakelond’s Chronicle, edited by John Gage Rokewode (a member of the Gage family of Hengrave Hall) was published by the Camden Society in 1840. This, of course, gave only the Latin text, and Carlyle’s brilliant English version made it available to those who had not had a classical education.
A copy of our constitution can be downloaded here
Committee 2023/24
President: Margaret Statham
Chairman: Stephen Cook
Vice Chairman: tba
Secretary: Patricia Mackie
Treasurer: Stephen Cook
Website: Andrew Norburn
Membership Secretary: Patricia Mackie
Spanton Jarman Project: Betty Milburn
Programme Secretary: Jane Patton
Publicity: Martyn Taylor
SPANTON JARMAN COLLECTION
The collection includes images in and around Bury St Edmunds, from weddings, local events, property, villages.
How to Join the Society
Membership is open to everyone, we charge a minimum subscription fee of £16.00 per person, or £22 for two people living at the same address.
Visitors are welcome to attend our lectures for a fee of £5 per meeting.
If you wish to apply for membership, or want to see the benefits of becoming a member You can read more on our join us page.
