Sutton Hoo

Edith Pretty owned the land and asked Basil Brown, a self-taught local archaeologist, to open the mounds in 1938; in 1939 he found rivets in a line and then the impression of a 27-metre ship, its wood entirely rotted away but its form preserved as a stain in the sand with the iron rivets still in position. The burial chamber amidships held a helmet, a gold and garnet shoulder-clasp set, a purse lid, silver from the eastern Mediterranean and weapons, an assemblage that rewrote what was assumed about seventh-century England and is usually connected with Rædwald of East Anglia. Pretty gave the finds to the nation, at the time the largest gift made to the British Museum by a living donor, and they are in the British Museum; the site holds the mounds themselves, a full-size reconstruction of the burial chamber and a viewing tower over the field.

What's there

• The mound field - the burial mounds in their setting above the Deben.
• The ship trace - explained on the spot where sand held the vanished hull.
• The chamber reconstruction - a full-size rebuild of the burial as found.
• The viewing tower - a raised platform giving the layout from above.

When to go

April to October for full opening and the walking routes; winter hours are shorter and the exhibition remains open. Weekdays are quieter, and interest rose sharply after the 2021 film The Dig.

Good to know

The original treasure is in London, not here, so the site shows replicas and interpretation. The mounds are grassy humps and need the explanation to mean anything. The estate walks are exposed and muddy in wet weather.

Nearby

Woodbridge and its tide mill are across the river; Orford and the coast lie east.

Key facts