Bury - Landmarks

Landmarks

Attractions in Bury include:

• Bury Art Museum, containing the Wrigley collection of paintings including works by Turner, Cox and De Wint.
• Bury Castle is a fortified manor house built in the mid 13th century by Sir Thomas Pilkington and is now protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument; the foundations have been excavated and have been open to the public since 2000.
• Bury Parish Church on the Market Place in the centre of the town is a Grade I listed building.
• Bury's 'World Famous' Market, which has been on the same site for nearly 600 years; the original licence for a market was granted in 1444. In 2006, out of 1,150 markets in the UK, Bury Market was voted the best 'British Market of the Year' by the National Association of British Market Authorities. The market was also selected as Radio 4's Food and Farming Awards Market of the Year in 2008. It receives over 1,000 coachloads of visitors every year.
• Castlesteads is an ancient promontory fort and scheduled monument.
• Peel Tower, Harcles Hill, above Holcombe village, Ramsbottom. The Peel Tower was built in remembrance of Sir Robert Peel, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and founder of the police force, who was born in Bury. Hundreds of people climb to the tower each year on Good Friday. Historically this gathering had a principally religious purpose since the hill is said to be strikingly similar to the hill that Jesus is said to have climbed before he was crucified on Good Friday (Calvary).
• The East Lancashire Railway, a heritage railway which runs from the town to Heywood, Ramsbottom and Rawtenstall. Based at Bury Bolton Street railway station.
• The regimental museum of the Lancashire Fusiliers has now moved to a new museum on Moss Street in Bury.
• Silver Street and environs contain many examples of mid-Victorian architecture, using York stone, from the pre-Gothic revival period.

Bury is home to several fine sculptures and pieces of public art. Edward Hodges Baily's 1851 statue of Sir Robert Peel stands in the centre of town, while Lutyens' Lancashire Fusiliers memorial can be found outside the Fusilier Museum. George Frampton's 'cheering fusilier', a tribute to the those who died in the Boer War, stands in Whitehead Gardens near the town hall. Contemporary works include Ron Silliman's text piece From Northern Soul (Bury Neon) at Bury Interchange.