BURY ST EDMUNDS, a market and borough town of the hundred of Thingoe, in the county of Suffolk, 71 miles from London. The river Bourn or Dark, which runs through the town, is navigable to Lynn. The ancient abbey is a magnificent pile of ruins. It is a clean, well-built, and well-paved town, with a handsome guild-hall, theatre, and other public buildings. The assizes for the county are held here. The markets are held on Wednesday and Friday. The inhabitants amounted in 1801 to 7655, in 1811 to 7986, in 1821 to 9999, and in 1831 to 11,436.