There is a very good opportunity for a silly photo if you are posing next to this statue. You can actually hang your bag / umbrella / whatever you have with you, from Constantine's extended hand. Very irreverent of course, but in York, no one much minds. This statue has been here only for about 10 years but has quickly become one of the city's iconic symbols.So what does the Roman Emperor Constantine have to do with York? Well, he was actually proclaimed Emporer in York, in 306, and the statue's plaque tells us that after his conversion to Christianity, he "established the foundations of Western Christendom."
This is a statue of St Edmund by Elizabeth Frink. He stands rather spookily between St Edmundsbury Cathedral and the Great Churchyard. There is an ongoing local campaign in East Anglia to reinstate St Edmund as patron saint of Britain (he was ousted by St George). The original St Edmund, King of East Anglia was killed by the Danes in 869, at Bradfield just outside Bury St Edmunds. Don't try hanging anything from this statue. The locals would lynch you.
Ruby is in Bury St Edmunds for the week, where she formerly lived and blogged. This post is part of a series to run until her return to York, comparing the two towns.
