История улиц Бери-Ст-Эдмундс: от автобусных станций и кинотеатров до современных магазинов

The many businesses which called Bury St Edmunds’ Brentgovel Street home The name Brentgovel supposedly means burnt ground, the street running from Risbygate Street until it meets Looms Lane in Bury St Edmunds. Many changes have taken place here over the years from when it was a major through road for the town with the Eastern Counties Omnibus Station situated slap bang in the middle. This is gone, a McDonalds now on the site. The only vestige of the bus station is its clock sitting proudly at the side of Hair: His & Hers. Opposite here was the wonderful Art Deco cinema of Oscar Deutsch which opened in 1937. As a 1,300-seater it was the first to be purposely designed for sound films, but also had provision for an orchestra and a stage; many a child can remember attending Saturday morning pictures. It was renamed the Focus in 1975, but attendances dwindled; maybe a refurbishment might have helped but the final curtain sadly fell in 1982. Demolition followed along with the auctioneer premises of Chevell Lawrence, the barber shop of Ethelbert Taylor and The White Lion PH on the corner with Short Brackland. This pub dated from the middle of the 18thC and was a carrier’s inn at one time, their heavy wagons laden down with all sorts of merchandise. ‘Ladies of the night’ were also reputed to have plied their trade at one time in the darkened corners of the Lion yard. Throughout the 20thC, many market stallholders kept their stalls under cover here. In place of these buildings was built an extremely dubious shopping mall, Cornhill Walk, an eclectic mix of shops which would give you a wonderful shopping experience, so we were led to believe. Well, not so, as from September 2015 this retail centre which suffered badly by the opening of the arc complex was in receivership, until purchased by developers, Knightspur. Despite several applications to reconfigure the site, Cornhill Walk is still awaiting an uncertain future. The loss of the White Lion was preceded by the closure of the ancient King’s Head on the corner with St John’s Street in 1976. This inn had its origins stretching back to the early 18thC. Also much used as an inn for goods carrying wagons from here they departed for their twice weekly lumbering haul to London, the journey itself taking in at least one overnight stop en-route, two if the weather was foul. The King’s Head’s last landlord was Cyril Hunt, a member of the Magic Circle. He would always try to perform a feat of magic or a sleight of hand trick to any unsuspecting new imbibers before serving them a drink. All very well but if you were gasping for a pint to quench your thirst, very infuriating! The King’s Head was replaced with a Mothercare store, now Hughes Electrical, though a wonderful weathervane consisting of a stork carrying a baby has been retained. Further along is The Grapes Inn, a hostelry once owned by Henry Braddock and his Southgate Brewery during the 19thC when it was known as The Cock Inn. This was also the site of the Risbygate, pulled down in 1765 and where a stone chapel stood in medieval times. On the other corner a variety of businesses have traded including Glasswells furnishers (celebrating their 80th anniversary in 2026) in a new development that swept away Flittons fish & chip shop restaurant; locals called it ‘Flittons, gritting and spitting!’. Another fish & chip shop was further along the street, this was Hawkin’s fish bar, the premises awaiting a new future. Opposite to Hawkins premises, at 6, Brentgovel Street, in 1905 was the Montgomery Company that produced their own motorcycle and sidecar combination. This shop was to later to become Scott’s cycle shop and then Halfords, part of a national chain, also Mill House Fabrics and currently is Wood Green charity shop. Another shop now gone was Townsends, a toy shop par excellence; Moyses Hall Museum in 1996, having extended into their former premises (it was a Brewhouse way back in 1540). The Methodist Church in Brentgovel Street has been much altered internally and externally since it was opened for worship in 1878. James Floyd, a chemist shop owner and an ardent Methodist, was very much to the fore of its building; he was to become mayor two years later. With the amalgamation of the three branches of Methodism in 1934, it was renamed The Trinity Methodist Church. Perhaps the biggest change though is the pedestrianisation of part of the street, from the corner of St John’s Street to the Well Street corner. Is this the future of Bury’s town centre?