[3] As a virtually unaltered structure of the Romanesque age, the tower is both a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The tower was constructed under the auspices of Anslem, Abbot of Bury St Edmunds, from 1120 to 1148 as the principal gateway into the abbey.

Ruins of the eastern end of the abbey still survive behind the present cathedral, as does a portion of the west front, known as Sampson's Tower.

Sometime post-dissolution, the ground around the church was raised to prevent flooding, and as such the tower now sits nearly 6 feet below street level.

[9] At a meeting of the parish of St James on 6 April 1811, it was decided that a local architect, Mr Patience, should be entrusted to put a new roof on the tower.

[9] Following ringing on 5 November 1818, part of the eastern face of the gateway arch collapsed, leading to massive cracks appearing in the tower, stretching virtually the entire height of the structure.

His report, presented in the July of that year, stated that whilst the damage was repairable, it could be made worse by the ringing of the bells.

The report followed an inspection by Lewis Nockalls Cottingham who spent more than a week examining the tower, including the removal of the plaster erected in 1818 so he could see the full extent of the damage.

[4][6][9] Despite two architects now advising against the ringing of the bells, still nothing was done until the parish was finally forced into action following masonry falling from the tower in October 1843.

By April 1846, the Ipswich Journal reported that progress thus far has included the rebuilding of 25 feet of ashlar in the south-east corner, and the removal of the eastern arch now that the bridge centre was in place.

Other works in progress were the fitting of the tie beams, the repair of the louvres and the carving of new corbels, as well as the removal of the cupola and the replacement of the battlements.

[4][5][6][8] The third stage is identical on all four faces, featuring three deep recessed window openings, divided by colonettes and hood moulds with billet decoration.

[9][11][12] The bells were broken up and recast in 1785 by Thomas Osborn of Downham Market, who with additional metal, made them into a ring of ten.

Following retuning and removal of canons, the tenor bell weighs 27 long cwt 2 qrs 5 lbs (3,085 lb or 1,399 kg), striking the note C#.

[2][11][13][14] The passing of Neil Collings, Dean of St Edmundsbury from 2006 to 2009, on 26 June 2010, whose wish it was to see the ring of ten augmented to twelve, gave the cathedral and ringers ambition to finish his vision.

The two new trebles, which were cast in September 2011 at Taylor's foundry in Loughborough, were delivered to the Norman Tower in December, the dedication service in the cathedral followed on Easter Sunday 2012.

Though not as common as in Continental Europe, some churches and cathedrals in the United Kingdom still have detached bell towers, but few have rings on the size or scale of Bury St Edmunds.