Sutton Hoo

About this place

Sutton Hoo sits above the River Deben near Woodbridge in Suffolk.

Anglo-Saxon burial mounds here were first excavated starting in 1938, with the main ship burial discovered in 1939.

The dig uncovered an entire ship burial, complete with a ceremonial helmet, gold buckles and Byzantine silver, all buried with an East Anglian king around AD 625.

The finds rank among the richest ever recovered from British soil and changed how historians understood the so-called Dark Ages.

The National Trust has managed the site since 1998, with a visitor centre and exhibition hall standing near the original mounds.

History

Landowner Edith Pretty appointed local excavator Basil Brown to investigate the mounds on her estate. Initial excavation of smaller mounds took place in 1938, with the main ship burial discovered in 1939. The site is thought to hold the remains of King Raedwald of East Anglia. The artefacts, including the now-famous helmet, were legally declared Pretty's property under treasure trove law, and she donated the entire find to the British Museum that same year. Pretty died in 1942, and the National Trust has cared for the estate since her bequest in 1998.

Architecture

There is no standing historic building at the burial site itself; the mounds are earthworks, and the ship's timbers survived only as an impression in the sand. A visitor centre and exhibition hall were built near the original mounds to accommodate visitors to the site.

Worth knowing

The 2021 film The Dig, starring Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan, dramatised Basil Brown's excavation and Edith Pretty's role in commissioning it. The original helmet remains on permanent display in Room 41 of the British Museum, with a replica shown on site at Sutton Hoo.