St George, Bury St Edmunds
www.suffolkchurches.co.uk - a journey through the churches of Suffolk
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St George, Bury St Edmunds |
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www.suffolkchurches.co.uk - a journey through the churches of Suffolk |
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| It is unlikely that Arthur Mee had
the Mildenhall Road estate in mind when he wrote, in
1941, that Bury St Edmunds was a captivating town, it
is worthy of so great a history, with its fine old
streets and squares, the spacious ruins of its abbey,
Norman and medieval towers of great splendour, ancient
inns and noble churches. But St George is a fine,
purposeful building set in the heart of the Mildenhall
Road estate, one of Suffolk's most challenging. It was
constructed in 1951 as a community centre to serve the
tenement blocks around it. The whole estate was intended
to serve the industry to the north of the town,
particularly British Sugar. St George sprawls like a lazy
animal, wide and low to the ground, of dark red brick
with large casement windows, and the high pitched roofs
fashionable at the time. In 1967 it was converted from a
community centre into a church, with the addition of a
sanctuary, a lady chapel, and a pretty spirelet. The
parish was carved out of that of St John. Inside, it is simple, clean and light, without the early 21st Century reordered razzmatazz of the contemporary All Saints a mile or so off. Everything is neatly kept and cared for. There is no coloured glass, and the eyes are drawn to the blue apse to the east. A doorway to the south of the sanctuary leads through to a small lady chapel. A likeable church, but I'm afraid that it never seems to be open. If I lived on the Mildenhall Road estate, I think I'd quite like it if I had a prayerful space accessible, but there you are. |
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