One of the famous archaeological sites in the UK is Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. In the 1930's a burial mound was excavated to reveal amazingly intricate objects that were burried with a Saxon king, thought to be Rædwald who died around 625. Not only were there gold objects and armour, but also a large ship. The wood had all rotted away, but the shape could be seen in the earth and all the rivets were still in place.
This place is not too far from us, but we had never been. It takes a couple of hours to drive and we picked up my dad along the way. The best known relic is a helmet with detailed engravings. The original is in the British Museum, but the site has a replica in their exhibition. It is run by the National Trust and as members we get free entry. They have some fairly new building, with solar panels, and a small exhibition space that also contains some original relics from later digs, including those from a warrior who was buried alongside his horse.
There is a film on Netflix about the discover of the ship burial just before the Second World War. The site had not been properly investigated until then. There are a series of mounds, but some are barely visible as they have eroded or damaged by farming. Some had been robbed in earlier times, but the robbers missed the great treasure by about a metre.
The real site looks somewhat different to that in the film which looks to be in a fairly flat field. A Hoo is a high place and there are sweeping views down to the river. The boat must have been dragged all the way up the hill. A second ship had been in another mound, but 'antiquarians' in the 19th century, but they had just taken all the rivets to be melted down to make horseshoes.
You are not generally allowed to wander close to the mounds, but there was a free guided tour that took you in there.
The mounds are not that special to look at unless you know what they contained. This is the one with the smaller ship that has been reconstructed to its original height and it is being monitored for the effects of erosion. To the left is the one that held the big ship along with an observation tower that lets you see the whole site.
It did get a little cold and windy out there, but we went up the tower. There is a big pig farm on the other side that was a little smelly.
The UK is full of ancient sites and this one has a certain magic even though it lacks the spectacle of the various castles. Not long after the Romans left there were new kingdoms being set up here and they were capable of amazing crafts. This time used to be known as 'the dark ages', but they had a lot going on.
I can recommend a visit. They have a nice cafe and the obligatory gift shop.
On the way back we took a detour to see the house where my dad grew up around eighty years ago in one of the villages near Bedford. When they first moved in there was no electricity. Things have changed a lot since then, but the house remains along with lots of other old buildings.
We may well go back again when the weather is warmer. There are some exhibits in the house that the land belonged to and we did not have time to go in. The TV show Time Team are due to return soon to look at another part of the site. There are actually several ancient cemeteries there, but digging of the mounds is very carefully restricted. There may well be more to find.
