A church has stood on the site of the cathedral since at least 1065, when
St Denis's Church was built within the precincts of
Bury St Edmunds Abbey. In the early 12th century the
Abbot,
Anselm, had wanted to make a
pilgrimage along the
Way of St James to
Santiago de Compostela. He was unsuccessful and instead rebuilt St Denis's and dedicated the new church to
Saint James, which served as the
parish church for the north side of Bury St Edmunds. Anselm was also responsible for building the abbey
gate tower, known today as
the Norman Tower, alongside St James's, which also served as the church's
belfry and it continues in this function to the present day. The church is located about 200 yards from
St Mary's Church, which is of a similar size. This church was largely rebuilt, starting in 1503, in the
Perpendicular style by
John Wastell, a
master mason who also worked on
King's College, Cambridge. Further alterations to the building were undertaken in the 18th and 19th centuries, notably a new
chancel and a
hammerbeam roof by
George Gilbert Scott. When the
Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich was created in 1914, St James's Church was made the cathedral. In 1959
Benjamin Britten wrote the
Fanfare for St Edmundsbury for a "Pageant of Magna Carta" held in the cathedral grounds. From 1959 onwards there was renewed building work designed to transform the former parish church into a cathedral building. Between 1959 and 1970, the Victorian
chancel was demolished and replaced with a new
quire, a
cloister was added on the west side; also
transepts, a
Lady chapel and a
side chapel dedicated to
St Edmund were built. The cathedral architect from 1943 to 1988 was
Stephen Dykes Bower and he left £2 million for the completion of the cathedral. In the cathedral grounds a new choir school and visitor's centre, which were opened in 1990, were built by Dykes Bower's successor, Alan Rome. ==Interior==