Author Madeline Martin, who has published 40 best-selling books, took six tours of the town over two days with Bury St Edmunds Tour guides as part of her research for her next book based on witches which will feature Bury St Edmunds and the era of trials in the 17th century.
John Saunders, Bury St Edmunds Tour Guides marketing officer, said: Visitors often query which of the range of guided tours of Bury they should take but even we were surprised when we had a special request for six of our tours over two days!”
Madeline and her partner John, from Florida, also spent time at Moyse’s Hall Museum, Bury St Edmunds Guildhall and was interested in a forthcoming play A Tryal of Witches at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds.
John continued: “Madeline has covered most of what we offer in one hit! Her capacity to absorb so much information is incredible as we have guided her through crime, punishment, disorder, ghostly and macabre happenings, the medieval and Tudor eras and highlighted notorious ladies of the town. We will look forward to reading her book which is due for release in the USA next year and I am sure it will be of interest to local readers when it arrives in Bury.”
Madeline Martin https://madelinemartin.com/ is an internationally renowned author of historical fiction, gaining status in America as a best-seller. Her podcasts and interviews also enjoy a large following. Her works relate to various countries she has visited and are preceded by extensive research to make storylines relevant to the local environment or era covered. Her next book will be about witches and her original research reflected Bury St Edmunds as having relevance to her story. She therefore intended to visit Bury but beforehand she contacted Bury Tour Guides to discuss what tours might assist.
Over two days she managed to accomplish six tours involving the following six of the town’s guides, covering a range of subjects:
• Ladies of the town – Lynn Whitehead
• The medieval grid – Adrian Tindall
• Crime and punishment – John Saunders
• Tudor times – Stephen Moody
• Ghostly and macabre – Alex Matthews
• Dissent, riot and rebellion – Terry O’Donoghue
In addition, her research has involved contact with staff at Moyse’s Hall, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and Bury St Edmunds Guildhall. Her visit to Bury St Edmunds coincided with Bury St Edmunds and Beyond’s ‘Spooky Bury St Edmunds’ tourism marketing campaign https://visit-burystedmunds.co.uk/spooky-bury-st-edmunds which highlights how significant the town’s witch trials were. All information on guided tours can be found on this website
