Local Attractions

Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge in Suffolk, is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of the 6^th and early 7^th centuries, one of which contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance. It is of primary importance to early medieval historians because it sheds light on a period of English history which is on the margin between myth, legend and historical documentation. Use of the site culminated at a time when the ruler (Raedwald) of East Anglia held senior power among the English, and played a dynamic (if ambiguous) part in the establishment of Christian rulership in England. It is central to understanding of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of East Anglia and of the period in a wider perspective.

The ship-burial, excavated in 1939, is one of the most magnificent archaeological finds in England for its size and completeness, the far-reaching connections, quality and beauty of its contents, and for the profound interest of the burial ritual. Although it is the ship-burial which commands the widest attention from tourists, there is also rich historical meaning in the two separate cemeteries, their position in relation to the Deben estuary and the North Sea, and their relation to other sites in the immediate neighbourhood.

Sutton Hoo is the name of an area spread along the bluffs on the eastern bank of the River Deben opposite the harbour of Woodbridge. The word "hoo" means "spur of a hill." and the site is located about 7 miles from the sea, overlooking the inland waters of the tidal estuary a little below the lowest convenient fording place. Sutton Hoo is felt by many to be a magical place, and the legend surrounding its discovery and excavation adds to its allure and mysterious atmosphere. The find which was so evocative and illuminating of the origins of the English Nation was made on the very eve of the Second World War.

Mrs Edith May Pretty J.P. lived in Sutton Hoo House and owned the estate. She had moved there with her husband in 1926, but he died in 1934 leaving her with a young son. They had often wondered what the strange, rabbit-infested mounds were which they could see from the house. In around 1900 an elderly resident of Woodbridge had spoken of 'untold gold' in the Sutton Hoo mounds, and Mrs Pretty's nephew, a dowser, repeatedly identified signals of buried gold from what is now known to be the ship-mound. Mrs Pretty became interested in Spiritualsim, and was encouraged by friends who claimed to see figures at the mounds. By popular account she had a vivid dream of the funeral procession and treasures.

Through the Ipswich Museum, in 1938 she obtained the services of Basil Brown, a full-time archaeologist on Roman sites for the museum. She took him to the site, and suggested that he start digging at Mound 1, one of the largest, but the mound had obviously been disturbed, so in consultation with Ipswich Museum, he decided instead to open three smaller mounds, which did reveal interesting treasures, but only in fragments as the mounds had been robbed. Mrs Pretty still wanted a full excavation of Mound 1 and, in May 1939, Brown finally began work and ship-rivets were soon discovered. After patient weeks of clearing out earth from within the ship’s hull, the undisturbed burial chamber was reached. It lay beneath the exact spot where Mrs Pretty had told him to dig a year previously. In June 1939 Charles Phillips of Cambridge University, heared rumour of a ship discovery, and soon after the excavation of the burial chamber was undertaken by a new team of experts while Brown continued to clear the ship.

The whole excavation was overshadowed by the imminence of war with Germany. The finds, having been packed and removed to London, were brought back for a Treasure Trove Inquest held in the autumn at Sutton village hall. Brown, who remained loyal to his employer Mrs Pretty throughout, gave his testimony with the rest, and it was decided that since the treasure was buried without the intention to recover it, it was the property of Mrs Pretty as landowner. These stories alone would have been enough to get the legend of Sutton Hoo into the history books. However, Mrs Pretty made one final decision which ensured her a special place in Britain's archaeological history. In an act of almost unrivalled generosity she decided to bequeath the treasure as a gift to the whole nation, so that the meaning and excitement of her discovery could be shared by everyone.

Finally the fact that this burial, among all the others, had escaped from being plundered was another of the wonderful coincidences of the Sutton Hoo legend. In medieval times the site had been divided by boundary ditches to form fields. One of those ditches cut across the western side of Mound 1, giving it a lopsided appearance. A robber pit dug in the 16th century had been sunk at the apparent centre, missing the real centre and the burial deposit by a narrow margin. A later investigation between 1983-1992 on behalf of the British Museum saw the site thoroughly surveyed as new techniques were developed. There were a series of Anglo-Saxon graves of execution victims found, later than the primary mounds.. A new undisturbed burial (Mound 17) contained a young man with weapons and goods, alongside a separate grave containing his horse. The publication of this work came to completion in 2005.  A substantial part of the gravefield remains undisturbed, reserved for the benefit of future investigators and future scientific methods.

Mound 17 - The Equestrian Grave - This is the most impressive of the burials not contained in a chamber, the grave of a young man and his horse. They were in fact two separate grave-hollows side by side under a single mound, and were undisturbed (looters had dug over the intervening baulk). The man was buried in an oak coffin with his pattern welded sword at his right side. The sword-belt was wrapped around the blade, with a bronze buckle with garnet cellwork, two pyramidal strapmounts and a scabbard-buckle. By his head were a stike-a-light and a leather pouch containing rough garnets and a piece of millefiori glass. Around the coffin were two spears, a shield, a small cauldron and bronze bowl, a pot and an iron-bound bucket. Some animal ribs were probably a food offering. In the north-west corner of the man's grave was the bridle for the horse, mounted with circular gilt bronze plaques bearing deftly-controlled interlace ornament. These are displayed in the Exhibition Hall at Sutton Hoo.

Mound 1 - The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial Grave - Although practically none of the original timber survived, the excavated form of the ship in Mound 1 presented a very perfect image in 1939. A stain in the sand had replaced the wood but had preserved many details of the construction, and nearly all of the iron planking rivets remained in their original places. Hence it was possible to survey and describe what was merely a ghost of the original ship. The excavators found no trace of a body, and originally suggested that the grave was a form of canotaph. However the arrangement and type of the buried goods, and the knowledge that these soils do dissolve bone, leave little doubt that this was a burial with a body, and that it was placed in the centre of the chamber with the feet to the east. Some time after burial, the roof collapsed violently under the weight of the mound, compressing the goods into a seam of earth.

<--- Reassembled Circular Shield found along the inner west wall, decorated with large garnet encrusted emblems.






   Reproduction of the badly deformed six-stringed Anglo-Saxon lyre found in a beaver skin.>---












The extremely rare helmet found, had rusted in the grave and was shattered. The sword is richly furnished with a gold and garnet pommel, gold guards and filigree clips on the hilt. Together with the sword harness and scabbard mounts, the gold and garnet objects found in the upper body space are among the true wonders of Sutton Hoo. Their artistic and technical quality is quite exceptional. These are therefore the work of a master-goldsmith of his age who had access to an East Anglian armoury containing the objects used as pattern sources.

Purse, Shoulder clasps and the Great Buckle

Within the purse were contained 37 gold shillings, each from a different Frankish mint and therefore deliberately formed as a collection. There were also three blank coins and two small ingots. This has prompted various explanations. Possibly like the Roman obolus they were to pay the forty ghostly oarsmen in the afterworld, or were a funeral tribute, or an expression of allegiance. They provide the (debated) primary evidence for the date of the burial, probably in the third decade of the 7^th century. Other finds include numerous and varied Drinking horns, heaps of textiles and a unique assemblage of Mediterranean silverware.

In 1940 H.M. Chadwick (a pre-eminent Anglo-Saxon historian) gave his opinion that the ship-burial was probably the grave of King Raedwald of the East Angles, who ruled c 599-c 624 AD. The National Trust visitor centre is sited near the Sutton Hoo cemetery and includes much of the Sutton Hoo estate. The Exhibition Hall houses the original finds from the Sutton Hoo equestrian grave (Mound 17), the newly-found hanging bowl and the Bromeswell Bucket. There are several high-quality reproductions and a life-sized recreation of the burial chamber and contents. A temporary exhibition room displays original objects on loan in annual themed exhibitions.

Sutton Hoo - Open daily from 10:30-17:00, Wed - Sun 4^th June - 1^st July,  entrance costs £5.35.

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