Cnut's Church and its Successor

Cnut's Church and its Successor. . Over one thousand years ago, building began on the abbey's first stone church., By the early 10th century St Edmund's body was moved to Beodricsworth, which became known as Bury St Edmunds. A large wooden church was built here, probably surrounded by a complex of timber buildings., In 1020, Cnut, the Danish king of England, approved a decision to turn the church into a Benedictine monastery. He built a round church (rotunda) to house Edmund's shrine. It was one of the first stone buildings in East Anglia. The shrine remained here only until 1095, when it was moved into the huge new Abbey Church. Cnut's rotunda stood until around 1275 when it was demolished to make way for a new Lady Chapel., Top right: The gigantic new Abbey Church, begun in 1081, towered over Cnut's round church. Anglo-Saxon columns that might have come from the rotunda's windows were discovered during excavations in the 1950s., King Cnut , Cnut was king of England from 1016, soon becoming king of Denmark, and then king of Norway until his death in 1035. Although Cnut was Danish, he was also a Christian and greatly invested in the Church in England. Left: Cnut in an 11th-century manuscript.