In 869 AD Edmund King of East Anglia was beheaded by invading Danes near Norwich; his remains were brought to Bedericsworth (Bury St Edmunds) and a shrine was built in his honour. Almost two hundred years later, a great Benedictine abbey (the ABBEY OF ST EDMUND) was built around this shrine on the site of an earlier abbey. The abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1539, and only flint core ruins remain.

In 1831 the grounds of the abbey, owned by the Marquis of Bristol, were laid out as a botanical garden by Nathaniel Hodson, using many of his own specimens. In 1912 the borough council took a lease on the land and eventually bought it from the Bristol family in 1953 for �7,814. Many improvements have been made over the years and a few of Hodson's omamental trees still remain. The ABBEY GARDENS' stunning floral displays have won Bury St Edmunds several awards in recent years.

The ALWYNE HOUSE TEAROOM in the Abbey Gardens is open during the summer months, and offers pleasant surroundings to enjoy coffee, tea and light refreshments.