The Athenaeum is a

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building and a major venue in

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...

, England. Even before substantial rebuilding the site was used as an

Assembly Rooms In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done at home and there were ...

for the town in the eighteenth century. The building was rebuilt in 1789 and further developed in 1804 under a subscription scheme established by its new owner, James Oakes.

Lord Arthur Hervey Lord Arthur Charles Hervey (20 August 1808 – 9 June 1894) was an English bishop who served as Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1869 to 1894. He was usually known by his aristocratic courtesy title, "Lord", rather than the style appropriate to ...

founded the Athenaeum in 1853, originally operating out of

Bury St Edmunds Guildhall Bury St Edmunds Guildhall is a municipal building in the Guildhall Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It is a Grade I listed building. History The Guildhall is one of the largest and most impressive secular medieval buildings in the country, and ...

. In 1854 the organisation moved into the former Assembly Rooms, since then the building has been known as the ''Athenaeum''. The building and its attached railings are a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

References

Grade I listed buildings in Suffolk Year of establishment missing Bury St Edmunds {{Suffolk-struct-stub