A stay at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk part one of two

East Anglia is blessed with some great National Trust and English Heritage properties. Sutton Hoo is one that has a campsite adjoining it, so I decided to go there for a break and also visit friends. I was concerned that the weather was very hot and I might be more comfortable at home. It was very hot but I did go and had an enjoyable break. 

Sutton Hoo, to me is a fascinating place and our last visit left me wanting to know more about the Anglo Saxon textiles found there. 

Some background. Sutton Hoo is adjacent to the river Deben and just to the east of Woodbridge, itself a delightful town in a lovely part of the country. Sutton Hoo is a large property, 255 acres, and in fact I visited on each of the 4 days I was there. 

I planned a brief visit on the Friday that I drove down, thinking it was a good place for coffee and to remind myself of what it has to offer before I went on to the campsite. Sutton Hoo  is the site of one of the most exciting archeological finds ‘of all time’; ‘one of the most important archeological sites in Europe’  but what does it offer? 

Woodbridge in the background 

Very briefly. Due to the position of the site next to the tidal estuary and the sea it was very important to the Anglo Saxons  who journeyed here ,after the Roman presence was on the wane, from what is now the Netherlands, Germany and southern Scandinavia. It is thought they mingled with the population and it was here that from the end of the sixth century that they buried their royal dead. The discovery of this is a story in itself (1) and also told at the site but I was particularly interested in the 263 finds from that remote burial and of those the 27 Anglo Saxon textile finds. My aim was to find out more about the textiles found. 

A picture of a sculpture showing the life size (27m) of the ship used for the Royal Burial. (2) 

On the Friday I had an enjoyable coffee and cake, a fruit flapjack today, overlooking this wonderful place. I studied the map and as it was quiet decided to look round the High Hall exhibition. The main finds of the Royal site were so precious that they are on display at the British Museum in London but to be honest the replicas here  looked identical to me. Over the years the display areas and other building on the site have been rebuilt and it is a lovely spacious site. The High Hall contains the main exhibits and some whole size models in authentically reproduced clothing.. with exceptional good detail of Anglo Saxon clothing of both Royal and that of lesser status members. Crafts and craftspeople were represented here.

Label about crafts people 

Some photos of the exhibition 

The famous royal helmet- most of it!

Detail form the Helmet 

Reconstructed textiles label 

Reconstructed textiles 

This one speaks for itself

I did a quick look round and took some photos and asked one of the volunteers where I could get a book with more detail of the textiles. The shop has an excellent selection of books for all ages, but only the guide book seemed to have any details. I had made the same comment when we last visited in 2021. This started a little chain of help and it seemed that a couple of the textile volunteer team should be demonstrating with a collection of their work on the next day, Saturday, if it was not too hot. By lunchtime on Friday it was pretty unbearable in the sun. 

I popped into the second hand bookshop and treated myself to 4 books as a way to support the National Trust, all great and each less than a Saturday paper!  a Mary Berry cake book dating back to 1981. I am a cake person! 

100 years of 100 treasure from Suffolk Churches. Norfolk has amazing churches but from this book, it looks like there are lots of churches in Suffolk to visit too. 

Winter Knits form Kim Hargreaves, 21 designs and I was surprised I did not have this book already. That dates back to 2009 and  the photography in it is great

The Art of embroidery by Julia Barton. Another book I am surprised I did not own, it  contains a chapter on fabric jewellery which just for that chapter was worth the £4.00 just for that chapter. I knit beads and this has great ideas for fabric beads beyond what I have done before. All great finds! 

I now had a decision to make. I intended  to walk into Woodbridge on the Saturday but could  I miss talking to people about the Sutton Hoo textiles? 

The motorhome in its spot for 4 days, bliss with the trees I was backing onto. 

The camping spot 

Notes

1. The main excavation of the burial mounds and the stimulus for the Nexflix film ‘The Dig’ started just as the first world way was starting in 1939. Re excavations took place 1965-1971 and 1983- 1993. There  had already been some robber pits dug around 1600. 
2. The Royal Burial, thought to be of Raedwald, the King of East Anglia