It was decided to build upon the old tower, and so it was decided to chip away the cement cladding and replace it with decorative flint work with stone stringing and detailing. Also to add corner buttresses with stone facing, and the first stone was laid in 1898. The result was a neo-gothic design which matched the old style of the main church, but further appeals for funds were needed in 1900 to raise the height of the tower. On 14th October, 1903 the "new" tower of 118 feet was dedicated by the Bishop of Ely.

On Monday afternoon, after leaving Stowmarket, the General’s progress through the villages on the road to Bury was a triumphant one. Everyone who could possibly get out lined the route, and gave him enthusiastic cheers. In some places, the enthusiasm showed itself by showers of flower bouquets and.....an admirer at Beyton Green very nearly caused the General a serious accident ....(when).. a bouquet of flowers intended for the car struck the General on the side of the face slightly injuring his nose."

It had already been decided, in April, 1913, that the Church of St James in Bury St Edmunds, would be designated as the Cathedral of the new Diocese.

Considerable public discussion and controversy accompanied all these changes which had been debated ever since the initial proposals for change were set out in 1907. The diagram shown here demonstrates the original 1907 proposal. By clicking on the thumbnail you can also see the previous configuration in place since 1877.

Britain entered the First World War on 4th August 1914, and the regulars and territorials were mobilised.

On March 15th, the Suffolk Regimental Cenotaph was dedicated inside St Mary's Church in Bury. It was erected by subscriptions from all units of the Regiment. It was made of white alabaster and sculpted by A Whiffin to a design by W A Pite. Above it hang the flags of various battalions of the Regiment, laid up after the Great War. The picture from 2005 also includes memorials and flags from a later era.

The value of tithes was a burden on tithepayers but it rarely provided a living wage to the clergy meant to receive it. Thus any refunds due were a double blow to them. Often the vicars and parsons were in as much distress from the system of tithes as the farmers.

During November 16th church bells were rung for the first time since 13th June 1940 to celebrate the British victory in the desert, at El Alamein, over the Afrika Corps led by Rommel.

On 30th November the colours of the 1st Battalion and the 4th Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment were laid up at St Mary's Church in Bury by colour parties of the 1st East Anglian and the Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Regiment.

Since then the Churches of Christ and Congregational Church in Scotland have become part of the United Reformed Church (URC) family.

In Bury St Edmunds the St John's Church School closed in St Johns Street, and the building became a Church Hall, used for a variety of community purposes.

"Westgate Chapel began life in February 1975 as a church plant from the village of Barrow, five miles outside Bury St Edmunds.

The small Congregational Chapel had been written off by the denomination as a lost cause. But in the late 1960s, Bob Cotton was called to pastor the church, and as the gospel was faithfully preached, and the people prayed, the church saw significant growth. Many people were attracted to the village chapel from Bury St Edmunds because of the evangelical Bible Ministry taking place there.

Eventually the church settled on purchasing its current building on Hospital Road near the town centre. Believing that the Lord was directing them in this way, the building was purchased in May 1976 and the church became known as Westgate Chapel. Originally a stable block for a pub, the building has gone through several incarnations, and has been extended three times since its original purchase.

"In 1985, Robert Surridge, the Adventist pastor from Gorleston, near Yarmouth, and Jonathan Gallagher, pastor in Cambridge, joined forces to bring the Adventist message to Bury St. Edmunds. They did house-to-house visitations and contacted known S.D.A. Believers in and around Bury, as well as those on the U. S. Air force bases at Lakenheath and Mildenhall.

The group of interested persons started meeting for worship and Bible study in the Guildhall, about September 1985. As Robert Surridge writes, “Jonathan and I found the Guildhall whilst trying to get out of a rain storm and I know that it served the church well as a home for many years.”

The group was officially organised by Pastor Sven Ohman as a “Church” on 12th October, 1991 with 24 charter members. They met at the Guildhall until 2001 when the Railway Mission Hall became available.

It has always been envisaged that Christ Church Moreton Hall would be a single body working ecumenically in the clearly defined mission area of Moreton Hall estate.

Stephen Dykes Bower, the cathedral architect, first appointed in 1943, died in 1994. He left nearly £2 million towards the completion of the tower and works to St James's Cathedral. Suddenly there was the prospect of completing his design for Bury's cathedral church.
At Moreton Hall there had been great development of private housing, industry and commerce. Some major shopping outlets were now located here, and a new Anglican parish was established here in July, 1994. Christ Church was set up by the Church of England, but run on ecumenical lines.

One of the casualties of the new arrangements at the Guildhall was the congregation of the local Seventh Day Adventist Church. They had met at the Guildhall for some years, but now had to look for other accomodation. In the short term, they moved to the St John Ambulance Hall, but then heard that the Fornham Road Free Church had dwindled to a level where they decided to sell their building. They resided in the "tin tabernacle" by the railway bridge in Fornham Road, which was the well known landmark usually still referred to as the Railway Mission. The Seventh Day Adventists acquired the building for £35,000, and found out that it had been made a Grade 2 listed building in 1996. This meant that all improvements would need listed building consent, and so careful plans and more money were needed to refurbish it. The work would be completed in May 2005.

During 2001 work began on the new cathedral tower. Prince Charles laid the first brick. It was soon discovered that much of the pre 1970 work on making the crossing to support the tower was now not considered up to the job. Much of this had to be removed before the new work could begin.

The project's starting point was the realisation that very few local people knew anything about the 12th century massacre of Jews in the town, which (unlike instances of later religious persecution) had not been commemorated in any monument. The Fund website also explains, "The massacre took place on Palm Sunday, 19th March, 1190, when anti-Jewish feelings would have been at their height, with people blaming Jews for Christ’s crucifixion. It was also a time of heightened religious and military fervour, as King Richard I was then recruiting soldiers to join his crusade to the Holy Land."