Visiting Sutton Hoo For long, Sutton Hoo was in private hands, but in 1998 it was given to the National Trust. A Visitor Centre has been opened, and visitors are now welcome. It is situated off the B10832 road, two miles east of Woodbridge [TM288487]. Here is a short guide to what you may see [...]
Ship burials
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: Further Info
Ship burials are rare in Britain. The closest parallel to Sutton Hoo comes from Snape, only 9 miles away, where a cluster of mounds overlooking the River Alde was thoroughly examined in the 19th century. Although the records are incomplete, it is clear that one mound overlay the remains of a 14m long vessel, the [...]
Return to Sutton Hoo
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: Further Info
After such sensational discoveries it was inevitable that archaeologists would return to Sutton Hoo. Rupert Bruce-Mitford was the first to pick up where the 1939 team left off, re-excavating Mound 1 and removing the remaining ship rivets in the 1960s. A more substantial campaign spanning 1983-2001 was masterminded by Martin Carver. This included another look [...]
Treasure
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: Discovery
They let the earth hold the wealth of the earls, gold in the ground, where still it dwells, as useless to men as it was before – Beowulf The grave goods were stowed in a wooden chamber, about 6m long, occupying the centre of the ship. The more utilitarian objects, such as cauldrons and buckets, [...]
A grave find
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: Discovery
The 1930s Sutton Hoo excavations were bookended by tragedy. While the curtain call was a catastrophe on an international scale, with archaeologists battling to complete their excavations as war swept across Europe, the opening one was of a very personal nature. In 1934 Mrs Edith Pretty suddenly found herself a widower, with a young child [...]
Sutton Hoo: field of kings
October 1, 2010 By Filed Under: Discovery
This was no ordinary burial. The group that gathered on a grassy promontory overlooking the River Deben around AD 625 was participating in a ceremony that is without equal in Britain. First a huge vessel, 27m long and honourably scarred and patched through long service was hauled a mile uphill to the mounds of a [...]
