SUFFOLK'S cathedral will be renamed at a ceremony this weekend.

Mark Crossley

SUFFOLK'S cathedral will be renamed at a ceremony this weekend.

St Edmundsbury Cathedral will add the name of St Edmunds to its parish church title the Cathedral Church of St James.

The rededication will be led during Evensong by the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, the Right Reverend Nigel Stock.

A spokesman for the diocese said that the church had been dedicated to St James, the patron saint of pilgrims, since the 12th century.

It is claimed that Abbot Anselm, of the Abbey of St Edmund, was prevented from making his own pilgrimage to the shrine of St James at Santiago di Compostela in northern Spain and so dedicated one of the local parish churches to the disciple.

In 1914 the parish church of St James became St Edmundsbury Cathedral, while keeping its dedication to St James.

“Without the influence of the abbey where St Edmund was buried, this church would not have developed in the way it has,” said Sarah Friswell, spokeswoman for the diocese.

“This is an appropriate acknowledgment of the importance of Edmund to the story of this place.”

The official renaming will be a part of the usual service of Choral Evensong at the Cathedral, at 3.30pm on Sunday. The installation of the new Archdeacon of Suffolk will also take place at the service. All are welcome to attend.