Antiope Cruising: Sutton Hoo

At 'Sutton Hoo' or South Hill in Saxon English is the site of one of the most dramatic archiological finds in England.

1939 The outline of the Sutton Hoo ship is revealed.

One of my earliest memories of boating with my father is of his tale of a great ship buried on top of a hill overlooking the town of Woodbridge on the river Deben. This was where we had sailed to on one summer weekend when I was probably 6 or 7 years old. Mystery still surrounded the then relatively recent find and, which at that time, was on private land. Ever since, I have wanted to climb the hill and see it for myself.

What remains today of the hilltop 'Dig' site,

This Iron sculpture has been created to the same scale as the vessel.

The site is now managed by the National Trust and is open to the public. Research has determined that it was very probably a voyaging Saxon vessel which has been ceremonially dragged to the top of the hill and buried along with the body of Raedwald the Saxon ruler of East Anglia. He was buried with a hoarde of gold, silver and all the trappings of wealth, at sometime around 625 AD. Nothing remained of the ship's timbers except her iron fastenings and the burial treasures, however her outline was clearly defined against the compacted soil.

The fragmented remains of the Saxon helmet

A reconstruction of that same helmet

Any visit to the British Museum is an experience in itself

An ornate silver dish and two spoons,

still immaculate after 1400 years buried

Items that were found in the ship have been identified as middle eastern.

The find has recently been dramatised with the film 'The Dig' portraying the somewhat amateur but determined excavation by a certain Basil Browne in 1939 which was just prior to war breaking out with Germany. My fascination with the story had to extend further with a visit to the British musuem in London to see the treasures themselves on display. I can now tick off another bucket list item.