The borough’s links with one of America’s founding fathers will be celebrated in style during a special event held on the 400th anniversary of the day the first English-speaking settlement was founded in the States.
The celebrations, called ‘America 400’, have been organised to mark the borough’s connections with the US and Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, who founded Jamestown, in Virginia, 400 years ago. A whole host of activities will take place in the Abbey Gardens and on Angel Hill, in Bury St Edmunds, on Sunday 6 May from 12noon to 6pm. Some of the highlights in the Abbey Gardens include:
- a wild west show;
- The Silver Bird 1940s dance display;
- Punch and Judy shows;
- plays explaining the history of Bury St Edmunds;
- vintage vehicles; and
- a falconry exhibition.
And on the Angel Hill, you can watch the United States Air Force parade as they exercise their Freedom of the Borough (conferred in 2000). The Bury St Edmunds Sea Cadet Band will also play and there will be a memorial flypast from the Battle of Britain.
At 3.30pm, Godspeed, a service of celebration and thanksgiving, will be held in St Edmundsbury Cathedral. During the service, Declare the Wonders, a new choir and organ composition by Roxanna Panufnik, will be given its world premiere. The piece has been commissioned by St Edmundsbury Cathedral to mark the occasion. The address will be given by Carla Carlisle of Wyken Hall.
The day has been organised to celebrate the area’s links with Capt Gosnold, who was born in Suffolk and is widely credited as laying the foundations for modern America. A seafarer and adventurer, he steered three ships across the Atlantic to Virginia 400 years ago before establishing Jamestown, the country’s first permanent English-speaking settlement.
Capt Gosnold also had specific links with Bury St Edmunds. His oldest daughter Martha was baptised in the cathedral in 1597 and, after dying at a young age, is now buried in the Great Churchyard. Capt Gosnold named Martha’s Vineyard, in present-day Massachusetts, after her.
ENDS
ISSUED BY LIZ HEARNSHAW, COMMUNICATIONS UNIT, ST EDMUNDSBURY BOROUGH COUNCIL. Tel 01284 757033. liz.hearnshaw@stedsbc.gov.uk
