9 June 2026 Wymondham and Thetford Abbeys, Bury St Edmunds

 I left Norwich, headed back toward London, stopping overnight in Bury St Edmunds. I had two nice visits, and two short ones.

The first stop was Wymondham Abbey (pronounced Wyndham). It was an Abbey founded by William d' Aubigny around 1107. For the first 400 years, Monks lived and worked on the east end of the Abbey, until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The people of Wymondham were lucky enough to get to keep majority of the Church for their own Parish church. 

Three generations of William D'Aubigny's were buried at this church. The volunteers were so excited that one of his descendants actually came by to visit today, but most of my other ancestors were too long gone to be found here.

This was a beautiful church, and the most striking feature to me was the row of wooden angels that made up the ceiling in the main portion of the church. Here they are shown below.

In addition to the D'Aubigny's, there were some Flowerdews, Hengraves, and one Maud Bigod, but again, nothing to take a picture of. Either way, this was a very beautiful church, and worth looking at.

The second stop was Thetford Abbey. This was just ruins, and you could tell that the masonry was having a problem staying up with all the scaffolding around the place. Still, there was one tomb/grave marker there that you couldn't miss, and it was the one ancestor that I had at this location.

Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk was buried here after he died in 1524. Less than 20 years later, the monasteries in England would come down, and all that was left of his tomb is this marker. Thomas was nearly 70 years old when he led the English troops to a victory over the Scots at Flodden Field in 1513. The King was very pleased, and Sir Thomas was richly rewarded for the victory. Thomas Howard was had some famous granddaughters. Queen Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were two of his Granddaughters, and Queen Elizabeth I was his Great Granddaughter. 

Here you can still see the pillars from the church lined up leading to where the Altar was. Thomas' father, John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, was buried in a parish church about a mile from the abbey. Too bad Thomas wasn't buried there too, or I could've seen them both.

Bury St Edmunds is in the County of Suffolk. St Edmundsbury Cathedral was only finished in 1914, something I didn't know. I had thought that I would have more ancestors here, but as new as the church was, there weren't any to be found. It used to be the Parish Church of St James, but renovation efforts began just over 100 years ago to convert it into St Edmundsbury Cathedral. All of my ancestors were long gone from England by then. They did have some helpful volunteers, and they mentioned that I should go up the block to visit St Marys Church. It was the church where the Nobles worshipped and were buried, and it had been around a lot longer than the cathedral.

This is the old Norman tower that stood with the Abbey back before the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and is the only intact building standing from that time.

St Marys is what a parish church should be. The volunteers were helpful, and it did house the remains of some of my ancestors, and a few that I didn't know were there.

My first ancestor's tomb is up near the altar, and is that of Sir Robert Drury, buried in 1537. Robert was Knight of the Body to Kings Henry VII and Henry VIII. He was also a Speaker of the House of Commons during his lifetime, and a Knight as well. His townhome in London happened to be on a street called Drury Lane (no, not next to the Muffin Man). His tomb is very ornate and in great shape. He is buried with his wife, Lady Anne Calthorpe, who passed away before he did in 1531. Today, they lay side by side in St Mary's Church.

On the other side of the Altar across from the Drury's was another tomb of a husband and wife by the last name of Carew. I recognized the name from my family tree, but wasn't sure if I was directly related to him. When I got back to my room, I looked it up, and it happens that Sir William Carew is the Great Grandson of my ancestor, Sir John Carew 1346-1372.

One last tomb of someone who I am not a direct descendant of is buried at St Marys Church. If you ever saw the Showtime mini series " The Tudors" then you would know the story of Lady Mary Tudor, sister to King Henry VIII. Mary was in love with Henry's childhood friend, Charles Brandon, but was forced to marry the King of France in a political marriage between England and France. 

Mary was just 18 years old when she was forced to marry King Louis XII, who was 53 years old. Louis had been married twice before, and had no sons from either marriage, so it was important for him to produce an heir. Only 3 months after his marriage to Mary, King Louis XII died, leaving Mary an 18 year old widow. By law, she had to remain in France for at least 6 weeks to determine whether or not she was pregnant with Louis' heir, which she was not.

There was some speculation that Louis died from being worn out from his exertions trying to produce an heir, but most chalked it up to his problems with Gout. Either way, before Mary married Louis, she asked her brother the King that if something were to happen to her first husband, and she was left a widow, that she would be free to marry someone of her choosing. Henry reluctantly agreed, but most knew Mary was too important a political pawn for him to allow her to do that.

King Henry sent his buddy, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, over to France as an ambassador, to retrieve Mary, and he made it clear, that she was to return unmarried! Well, that never happened. Charles and Mary were married in secret while in France, and Henry was none too please. After fining them 25,000 marks, he eventually forgave them, and allowed them to marry in Greenwich, to become husband and wife (and they still didn't pay the fine). 

A side note to this marriage. Mary and Charles eventually had four children together. Their first and last children were boys, and both died in childhood. The two middle children were girls. The oldest, Frances Brandon, married Sir Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset, who inherited the title of Duke of Suffolk when Charles Brandon died. Frances and Henry Grey had a daughter, and they named her Jane Grey. Lady Jane Grey. The woman who was manipulated into seizing the English Crown after the death of Edward the VI, and was also known as the 9 days Queen, before being executed my Queen Mary, the daughter of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII.

I will taking a couple of days break to pick my wife Terry up from the airport in London, and relocate to York. Once up there, I will get back into the blogging business.