Chat It’s Fate – September 2019

Getting there

In the heart of Suffolk, there’s a direct

train from King’s Cross in London to Bury

St Edmunds that takes roughly two hours.

It also takes approximately two hours to

drive from London.

Staying there

Rooms at the Old Cannon Brewery

(oldcannonbrewery.co.uk), which is in

easy walking distance of the city centre,

cost from £60 including a full English

breakfast with locally sourced

ingredients. Or if you want to

splash out, try the upmarket

and beautifully appointed

Angel Hotel (theangel.

co.uk) opposite the abbey

entrance, from £145 a

night including breakfast.

Ghostly footsteps are

often heard in the

corridors here at night –

so bring earplugs if you

scare easily!

 What to do

The abbey ruins are free to

explore, and the Moyse Hall

Museum (moysehall.org) is a

must-see for anyone with more

than a passing interest in history

and the paranormal. They’re

holding an evening of ghost

stories around Hallowe’en

for anyone brave enough

to attend! The ghost walks

start in October for £6 per

person for a 90-minute

tour and can be booked at

burystedmundstourguide.org.

Or for something completely

different, Bury St Edmunds

is famous for its brewing

industry, so book yourself

onto a Greene King tour

and sample the local ales

at greenekingshop.co.uk/

brewery-tours.

Where to eat

Foodies will be spoilt for choice

in Bury St Edmunds – it seems

like every other shop is a restaurant! Try

Baileys 2 (baileys2.co.uk) on Whiting

Street for excellent home-

blended coffee and cake or

brunch. Or push the boat

out at Pea Porridge

(peaporridge.co.uk) on

Cannon Street for an

imaginative, locally-

sourced meal.

Sample dishes

include asparagus

and wild garlic soup

and mutton neck

tagine. It’s not cheap

but it is delicious!

where they are...
Our tour fi nished at the Charnel
House on the site of the abbey.
Standing in the middle of the
old cemetery, I shuddered at the
thought of all the skeletal remains
beneath my feet. Glancing at my
wife, I noticed she’d gone deathly
pale and was shaking.
‘Are you OK?’ I asked her,
suddenly concerned.
‘I can’t breathe,’
she croaked. ‘I’ve got
to get out of here.’
I followed her as
she rushed outside
and took some deep,
shaky breaths.
‘I’m alright now,’
she said. ‘That was
really odd, though. I
suddenly felt really hot,
and like I was going to throw
up! There’s defi nitely something
psychically off about that Charnel
House. I’m not going back in
there, Ian.’
After a relaxing sleep and
delicious cooked breakfast at our
hotel, The Old Cannon Brewery,
we headed back into town to visit

the Moyse Museum – one of the

oldest buildings in Bury and a

former police station and

workhouse - and get the lowdown

on the infamous Red Barn Murder.

Cold-hearted killer

The story goes that, in 1827, a

young woman, Maria Marten, was

shot dead by her lover, William

Corder in the nearby town of

Polstead. Corder had

promised to elope with

her, but instead he

murdered her and hid

her body beneath the

fl oor of the barn. He

then proceeded to write

letters to her family,

purporting to be from

her, telling them that

she’d moved to London and was in

good health – but Maria’s

stepmother Ann had a recurring

nightmare about her stepdaughter’s

body being buried in the Red Barn.

She persuaded her husband to

investigate and Maria’s body was

duly discovered. William Corder

was sentenced to death – and the

story made the newspapers and

became an overnight

sensation. More than

20,000 people turned

up to watch William

Corder hang!

So evil was Corder

considered to be that

mere death wasn’t

good enough for him.

His skin was fl ayed

from his body, and

used to bind a book

with an account of

the murder – which

is on display at

Moyse’s Museum. I

must admit, I had to repress a shiver or

two when I looked at it.

Leaving the museum, I returned to the

abbey to see it in daylight. It’s said that the

ghosts of the long-gone Benedictine

monks are often spotted here, and it was

easy to imagine them standing among the

ruins of their former home. I took loads of

photos, and examined them eagerly for

orbs or unexplained shadows – but there

was nothing.

Some of Bury St Edmunds’ ghosts

may have made themselves known to

my wife, but they weren’t coming out

to play for me!

Did you know?

T

he Grey Lady is Bury St

Edmund’s most prolific

ghost. Thought to be a nun

who may have murdered the

Duke of Gloucester in 1444,

she’s been spotted all over

the town – at the Abbey ruins,

St Saviour’s Hospital ruins,

the Priory Theatre, the

Theatre Royal, outside the

Angel Hotel, in the cellars of

the Bourgee restaurant, and

even in the Tesco near St

Saviour’s!

Execution:

Will Corder

Human skin:

Book jacket

Posh:

Angel Hotel

Craft beer:

Worth a try!

Foodies:

Heaven

His skin was

flayed from

his body