Suffolk - Places of Interest

Sutton Hoo

Tranmer House, Sutton Hoo, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DJ

Tel: 01394 389700

website: www.suttonhoo.org.uk

In the early 7^th century, about 200 years after Roman government was withdrawn from Britain, this place was chosen to make a great monument to a new kind of English power. Over about 50 years an aristocratic was buried here under mounds near the terrace. This reached a climax in two outstanding burials with ships under high mounds, which declared to all, including visitors from the sea, that a power existed in this land. In about AD625, in a pagan consecration, the military, perhaps royal, master of a mighty household was buried here with goods reflecting his personal culture, public ceremonial and international contacts.

Sutton Hoo kept its secret for more than 1300 years, until, on the very brink of war in 1939, an incomparable buried treasure was discovered here. The sight of a huge buried ship, and the wealth of precious objects found within it, led to decades of further excavation and research, provoking questions that still await answers. The new exhibition which tells these stories has been made possible by a major grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and by the generous financial support of many other private and public bodies and individuals.

   This entry is in the Hidden Places of East Anglia.