Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds comprise a living, vibrant park, and just not because of their 14 acres of colorful displays and ornate flowerbeds. The gardens have changed with the times, all while still jealously guarding their history. The site here in the county of Suffolk, in eastern England, was originally home to a powerful Benedictine abbey in medieval times—in fact, 2022 marks the 1,000th anniversary of the storied abbey. You can still visit the abbey ruins and marvel at the 14th-century Great Gate and Norman Tower, which have survived through the ages. Nathaniel Hodson took the original abbey gardens and designed them as a botanical garden in 1831, using the Royal Botanic Gardens in Brussels, with their concentric circles, as his inspiration.