* BURY ST EDMUNDS - REGIONAL WINNER 2019 - EAST OF ENGLAND *

Sunday Times Best Places to Live in the UK List 2019 - Regional Winner for East of England - Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/best-places-to-live-sunday-times-3qkwjnvrm

Sitting amidst beautiful countryside, Bury St Edmunds is an historic town and the second largest in Suffolk. Surrounded by many picturesque villages, some of which offer good local amenities, it offers a wide range of cultural, educational and recreational facilities.

Features of particular note include St Edmundsbury Cathedral with its Millenium Tower, the famous Abbey Gardens with the original ruins and The Georgian Theatre Royal, which has recently been the subject of a restoration programme and The Apex, a live performance venue for concerts, comedy and dance, together with a contemporary art gallery. In addition, there are two cinemas, one of which is a multi-screen complex and a sports centre.

Bury St Edmunds and the surrounding villages boast excellent schools and further education is catered for at the West Suffolk College.

The town benefits from extremely good shopping facilities with a twice weekly market and a wide range of independent traders, national chains, five supermarkets and The Arc shopping centre, opened in 2009. In addition, there are many pubs and restaurants which cater for a variety of tastes.

The A14 dual carriageway heading west from Bury St Edmunds provides easy access to Newmarket, Cambridge, the Midlands, Stansted Airport and London, via the M11. Stowmarket and Ipswich, both with direct rail links to London's Liverpool Street, the East Coast and the A12 are all readily accessed by heading east.