St Edmund
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The Curse in Action

"Deus Lo Volt!"


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Quote

"But simple as the tale is there is hardly better historic training for a man than to set him frankly in the streets of a quiet little town like Bury St. Edmunds, and bid him work out the history of the men who lived and died there. In the quiet, quaintly-named streets, in the town-mead and the market-place, in the Lord’s mill beside the stream, in the ruffed and future brasses of its burghers in the church, lies the real life of England and Englishmen, this life of their home and their trade, their ceaseless, sober struggle with oppression, their steady, unwearied battle for self-government. It is just in the pettiness of its details, in its common place incidents, in the want of marked features and striking events, that the real lesson of the whole story lies. For two centuries this little town of Bury St. Edmunds was winning Liberty to itself, and yet we hardly note as we pass from one little step to another little step how surely that Liberty was being won."

John Richard Green (1837-1883), grandfather of British social and cultural history.

Green, J. R., (1876), Stray studies from England and Italy, Macmillan & Co., London p.218-9

The Curse of Saint Edmund

Anthrax Threat at Debenhams Carmarthen Site

They were warned. The Curse of St Edmund and its effects have been extensively documented in medieval literature and by modern scholars. Now the threat of one of its traditional effects - disease - has arisen at a site earmarked for a new Debenhams superstore at Carmarthen in Wales.

Like Bury St Edmunds, the market town of Carmarthen in Wales has a Cattle Market site which has been targeted for redevelopment and the construction of a shopping centre. As with the plans for the cursed cattle-market site in Bury St Edmunds, the lead store is to be Debenhams.

However, an environmental statement issued by an environmental consultancy Freeth Cartwright of Nottingham has identified a potential risk of anthrax contamination at the site arising from anthrax spores in the soil. In their report Freeth Cartwright has recommended a microbiological survey to determine the existence and extent of ground contamination and whether any other harmful micro-organisms arising from the former use as a Cattle Market site are present.

Environmental Agency Informed

Mercifully, there have been no deaths from anthrax in the UK since 1974, but the concern shown by citizens in Carmarthen is understandable. It is a particularly unpleasant disease, with a 95% fatality rate when spores are inhaled. Associated with livestock it can spread to humans and its spore can remain dormant in soil contaminating land for many years. An island off the west coast of Scotland remains out of bounds following germ warfare experiments with anthrax in World War II. There have even been suggestions that a form of anthrax was responsible for the medieval Black Death.

As a result of local concerns in Carmarthen the Regional Office of the Environment Agency in Bristol was informed and was considering the matter at the end of 2005.

What Lies Beneath - the Cursed Cattle Market Site in Bury St Edmunds

News of the warnings from Carmarthen prompted an examination of the environmental statement supplied for the cursed cattle-market site in Bury St Edmunds.

(The full document can be read in Bury St Edmunds public library or obtainable from St Edmundsbury Borough Council under the Freedom of Information Act).

This document was produced by WSP Environmental Services and identifies a number of risks, not least dangers posed by what is euphemistically called "biological residue".

Unfortunately, this has not been subject to any greater thought or analysis, probably because WSP has no qualified microbiologists and because there is a shocking lack of planning officer's comments on all aspects of the Cattle Market development judging from the information available to the public.

Nonetheless, even the WSP report identifies a serious potential risk, posed by development work, to public health. This arises because Bury St Edmund's public water supply underlies the Cursed Cattle Market site.

For example, Paragraph 11.21 of the Environmental Survey produced by WSP states that the impact of development could be of:

"..major (negative) significance due to the sensitivity of the underlying aquifer and the close proximity of the public water supply borehole"

and the same paragraph refers to the powers of the Environment Agency to intervene in such a case.

Furthermore in paragraph 11.26 the report identifies a potential general risk of contamination posed by existing contaminated biological material:

".The origins of this existing ground are not fully known, and potentially contaminating historical uses of the site have been identified in these areas (this could be in the form of ...the biological residue of its use as a cattle market). Therefore, the excavation material has the potential to contain contaminated material."

As stated, this report does not specify what is meant by "biological residue" and it does not appear to recommend a microbiological survey as a precaution. However, from the tone, it appears that even WSP have been prepared to recognise there could be a serious threat to public health in existence from biological material.

Could this include a threat of anthrax contamination, as at Carmarthen?

It seems that an effective assessment of the potential risks associated with Bury St Edmunds cattle-market have been hampered by a failure to fully address the archaeology and history, including previous use, of the site and is a direct consequence of the Borough's failure to ensure that they informed themselves of the previous activities carried out on the cattle-market as required by Planning Policy Guidance Notes 15. Whilst further remedial archaeological work is being attempted by the Suffolk Archaeology Unit, serious doubts must be expressed regarding the assessment of the site hitherto and this has been the subject of much publicity over the last year.

The Environment Agency Position

The Environment Agency in Suffolk has been contacted about this possibility - such serious a matter cannot be left to St Edmundsbury Borough Council or its planning department. Having seen the cavalier way they have spent public money and cut corners with the developers there will be few who will be naïve enough to trust them with matters of public health.

The Environment Agency has been contacted to reveal its advice and guidance and whether the possibility of anthrax contamination been specifically addressed at any stage. If so, what are the conclusions?

Freedom of Information Act and European Law

In the meantime, the Freedom of Information Act may be used by interested citizens to elicit information about the threat of anthrax or other microbiological contamination at Bury St Edmunds and any other sites earmarked. Also of interest will be to find if there is any emergency plan in place should a serious danger to public health arise.

In addition to the Freedom of Information Act, requests may also be made under has also Environmental Information Regulations 1992 SI 3240, implementing EU Directive 90/313 which provide an alternative for access to information should any public body prove touchy with respect to the FOIA. Under regulations a right of freedom for information is created under the regulations with respect to environmental issues concerning air, water, soil and flora and fauna and measures which may harm or protect the environment. Failure to supply environmental information under these regulations is enforceable through the High Court and the European Court.

From the evidence available and given the similarities between the two sites, there is a strong and urgent case for a microbiological survey being undertaken at Bury St Edmunds cattle-market site by a competent and independent expert.
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