In the early 12th century the Abbot, Anselm, had wanted to make a pilgrimage along the Way of St James to Santiago de Compostela.

This church was largely rebuilt, starting in 1503, in the Perpendicular style by John Wastell, a master mason who also worked on King's College, Cambridge.

[4] Further alterations to the building were undertaken in the 18th and 19th centuries, notably a new chancel and a hammerbeam roof by George Gilbert Scott.

In 1959 Benjamin Britten wrote the Fanfare for St Edmundsbury for a "Pageant of Magna Carta" held in the cathedral grounds.

In the cathedral grounds a new choir school and visitor's centre, which were opened in 1990, were built by Dykes Bower's successor, Alan Rome.

[7] The font was designed in 1870 by George Gilbert Scott, constructed on a medieval shaft, with a cover by Frank Ernest Howard of Oxford.

The Dean of St Edmundsbury is the head (primus inter pares — first among equals) and chair of the chapter of canons, the ruling body of the cathedral.