• UK
  • World
    • USA
  • Entertainment
    • Celeb
    • Showbiz
    • Magazine
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Gaming
  • Tech
  • Science
    • Education
  • Insurance
  • Business
  • Auto
  • ToS/Contact
    • ToS
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
NewsExplored
  • UK
  • World
    • USA
  • Entertainment
    • Celeb
    • Showbiz
    • Magazine
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Gaming
  • Tech
  • Science
    • Education
  • Insurance
  • Business
  • Auto
  • ToS/Contact
    • ToS
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • LinkedIn

  • Tumblr

  • RSS

UK

Sutton Hoo: The Anglo Saxon treasures that inspired The Dig starring Ralph Fiennes

Sutton Hoo: The Anglo Saxon treasures that inspired The Dig starring Ralph Fiennes
Newsexplored
17th January 2021
7
SHARES
ShareTweet
SubscribeRedditGoogleWhatsappStumbleuponPinterestDiggLinkedinTumblrTelegram
Views:
1

image captionCarey Mulligan as Sutton Hoo landowner Edith Pretty with Ralph Fiennes as archaeologist Basil Brown

The Anglo-Saxon treasures unearthed at Sutton Hoo have been described as one of “greatest archaeological discoveries of all time”. This discovery has been turned into Netflix film The Dig starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes. But what is the story behind the finds?

What was found?

image captionThe remains of the Sutton Hoo warrior’s helmet, with the surviving pieces mounted on a model showing its complete shape, are at the British Museum in London

The extraordinary ship burial was discovered just as World War Two was breaking out in 1939. Widowed landowner Edith Pretty had called in local archaeologist Basil Brown to investigate a series of mysterious earth mounds on her estate on the Deben estuary, near Woodbridge in Suffolk.

He discovered a royal burial chamber, which included a warrior’s helmet, a gold belt buckle, sword and shield, believed to have belonged to East Anglia’s 7th Century ruler King Rædwald.

Martin Carver, professor emeritus at the University of York and an expert on Sutton Hoo, told BBC History Magazine the ship was a “furnished mini-hall of the man lying in state”.

data-ad-format="auto">

“He had his personal things with him in the coffin, and on top were his warrior’s uniform and his equipment for hosting a feast [in the afterlife],” he said.

image captionAn artist’s impression of the burial ship, which was 88ft long (27 metres)

The finds revealed the kingdom’s extensive trading links, not only with Scandinavia, but also with the Byzantine Empire (centred on Constantinople – modern-day Istanbul) and Egypt.


They revolutionised historians’ understanding of the 7th Century, previously seen as a backward time when England was divided into Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

In all, there were 263 finds of gold, garnet, silver, bronze, enamel, iron, wood, bone, textile, feathers and fur.

Sue Brunning, from the British Museum in London, said: “The Sutton Hoo ship burial is one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time.”

image captionGold and garnet sword pyramids found at Sutton Hoo

Who was Edith Pretty?

image captionAn inquest determined the treasure found at Sutton Hoo belonged to Edith Pretty but she donated it to the British Museum

Mrs Pretty had travelled extensively and seen excavations in the Nile Valley in Egypt.

Her father Robert Dempster, an amateur archaeologist, had revealed a Cistercian abbey in the grounds of his family home.

During World War One, she served behind the lines as a nurse and she bought the Sutton Hoo estate with her husband Frank when they got married in 1926.

She had their only child when she was 47 and her husband died a few years later in 1935, aged 56.

Intrigued by the 18 low earth mounds at Sutton Hoo, she recruited Brown to begin their excavation in 1938, assisted by estate staff.

An inquest in 1939 declared the finds treasure belonging to Mrs Pretty and she promptly donated them to the British Museum.

The landowner, who is played by Carey Mulligan in the new drama, died in 1942 aged 59, leaving her 12-year-old son Robert who moved to Hampshire to live with an aunt.

Who was Basil Brown?

image captionBasil Brown was an archaeologist who worked for Ipswich Museum

When Pretty decided to excavate the site she was advised by Ipswich Museum to recruit the self-taught Suffolk archaeologist Basil Brown.

His archive – which was donated to Ipswich Museum by his widow and is now stored at the Suffolk Record Office – reveals he had conducted dozens of digs around the county.

media captionThe Dig: ‘I coached Ralph Fiennes on his Suffolk accent’

Brown, who is portrayed by Fiennes in The Dig, focused on three of the mounds, cutting a trench across them and looking for a difference in soil colour which would indicate the presence of an in-filled chamber or grave.

The first dig season revealed signs the mounds has been robbed centuries earlier, but there was just enough evidence for a second excavation to be planned at another mound.

image captionThe hull of the ship had rotted, leaving only the metal bolts and the impression left in the earth by the wooden timbers

It was in the summer of 1939, just ahead of the British declaration of war on 3 September, that he found iron rivets from the hull of a 88ft-long (27 metre) Anglo-Saxon ship, one of only three Anglo-Saxon ship burials in England.

He wrote regular letters to his wife at home in Rickinghall from the dig, one of which described the ship burial as “a find of a lifetime”.

An excavation team led by Cambridge University archaeologist Charles Phillips took over at this stage.

The finds spent the war hidden in a disused London Underground tunnel and were first shown to the public in 1951.

What else has been discovered at Sutton Hoo?

image captionThe burial ship is not the only find to be made at Sutton Hoo

Further excavations and analysis have uncovered more of the site’s secrets.

A dig from 1965 to 1971 solved the mystery of why no human remains were found in the ship.

Chemical analysis of the sand beneath the burial chamber revealed a body had decomposed there.

You might also like:

Brown’s belief that his initial finds in 1938 were of a rich ship burial which had been robbed was confirmed in excavations led by Prof Carver from 1983.

They also uncovered the burial of a high-status woman and the remains of a young warrior and his horse.

Prof Carver told BBC History magazine the “extravagant and very richly-furnished” pagan burials were probably in reaction to the spread of Christianity.

More gruesomely, the remains of people were detected as “ghosts” in the sand – human forms highlighted by areas of harder, darker sand, with evidence that legs and ankles had been bound and necks broken.

Why does Sutton Hoo belong to the National Trust?

image captionA reconstruction of the remains of the ornate shield found in the burial ship

Mrs Pretty’s son never returned to live at the Sutton Hoo estate.

The house provided a home for Land Army girls during World War Two, who left their mark by adding graffiti to a fireplace.

The estate was eventually sold and its last private owners were the Tranmer family.

In 1998, the trustees of the Annie Tranmer Trust donated it to the National Trust and Sutton Hoo House was renamed Tranmer House.

The property received a £4m revamp in 2019, which includes a full-size sculpture of the ship and a 17-metre (56ft) observation tower.

A project to build a replica of the ship is under way in the nearby town of Woodbridge.

image captionThe relationship between Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) and Basil Brown (Ralph Fiennes) forms the backbone of the film

A film that ‘brings the story to life’

The Netflix film is based upon the 2008 novel The Dig by John Preston.

He was inspired by his aunt Peggy Piggott, played by Lily James, who was an archaeologist during the 1939 dig.

“My aunt Peggy found the first gold that was discovered in Sutton Hoo,” he said.

“It was only after her death that I learnt of her role.”

The relationship between Mrs Pretty and Mr Brown forms the backbone of the film.

image captionCarey Mulligan said she had not known about Mrs Pretty’s role at Sutton Hoo until she read the film’s script

image captionIt is believed the Anglo Saxon ship was sailed up the River Deben and dragged up the bank and hill to the burial site – across the estuary from what is now Woodbridge

Mulligan said she was drawn to the role because Mrs Pretty was “so beyond her time as a woman at the beginning of the 20th Century”.

The character of Mr Brown – who left school at 12 and was self-taught – appealed to Fiennes.

“Basil Brown was an extraordinary figure and a self-effacing man,” he said.

Map

Sutton Hoo property operations manager Allison Girling said the film “brings the whole story to life”.

The Dig is on Netflix from 29 January.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk

Related Topics

More on this story

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Share on Skype (Opens in new window)

Related

Related Itemsangloinspiredralphsaxonstarringsuttontreasures
UK
17th January 2021
Newsexplored @newsexploredweb

Related Itemsangloinspiredralphsaxonstarringsuttontreasures

More in UK

  • Read More
    Princess Latifa urges UK police to reopen sister’s kidnap case

    Views:1 By Jane McMullenBBC News image copyrightSUPPLIED image captionPrincess Shamsa fled her father’s estate in the summer...

    Newsexplored 17th January 2021
  • Read More
    Covid-19: A-level and GCSE results to be decided by teachers

    Views:1 By Sean CoughlanBBC News family and education correspondent image copyrightGetty Images image captionThere will be optional...

    Newsexplored 17th January 2021
  • Read More
    Newspaper headlines: Teachers get ‘sweeping powers’ and Sunak’s ‘giveaway’

    Views:1 By BBC NewsStaff image captionMany of the papers focus on new rules to be announced on...

    Newsexplored 17th January 2021
  • Read More
    Covid-19: ‘Getting married is the most important thing’

    Views:1 By Kate Scotter and Phil ShepkaBBC News, East image copyrightBushfire Photography image captionIt is hoped all...

    Newsexplored 17th January 2021
  • Read More
    Neil Lennon: Celtic manager resigns with side 18 points adrift of Rangers

    Views:1 Celtic manager Neil Lennon has resigned with his side 18 points adrift of Rangers in the...

    Newsexplored 17th January 2021
  • Read More
    Newspaper headlines: ‘Faster path to freedom’ and stamp duty ‘to be extended’

    Views:1 By BBC NewsStaff image captionWednesday’s front pages continue to focus on how the UK will emerge...

    Newsexplored 17th January 2021
  • Read More
    Does Wales have a roadmap out of lockdown?

    Views:1 image copyrightGetty Images image captionThe latest lockdown started in Wales just before Christmas It is “impossible”...

    Newsexplored 17th January 2021
  • Read More
    Ex- Man Utd defender McQueen diagnosed with dementia

    Views:1 Gordon McQueen won the FA Cup with Manchester United in 1983 Former Scotland, Manchester United and...

    Newsexplored 17th January 2021
  • Read More
    Scotland’s papers: Salmond ‘conspiracy’ and the ‘road to freedom’

    Views:1 image captionThe Scotsman leads with Alex Salmond’s written evidence to the Holyrood inquiry into the Scottish...

    Newsexplored 17th January 2021
  • Read More
    Newspaper headlines: ‘Midsummer’s dream’ and ‘118 days until freedom’

    Views:1 By BBC NewsStaff image captionTuesday’s front pages are dominated by the prime minister’s plan to ease...

    Newsexplored 17th January 2021
  • Read More
    Covid: ‘It is important that this is the last lockdown’

    Views:1 By Laurence Cawley and Sonia WatsonBBC News, Essex Published 53 minutes ago Related Topics image captionJulie...

    Newsexplored 17th January 2021
  • Read More
    Covid: ‘Children really need to get back into school’

    Views:1 By Craig Lewis and Ben SchofieldBBC News, East of England image captionHead teacher of Jeavons Wood...

    Newsexplored 17th January 2021
Scroll for more
Tap
data-ad-format="auto">
NewsExplored

NewsExplored - Making sure all the latest news is explored?

Contact us for help

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • Comments

  • Transfer rumours: Kounde, Haaland, Bremer, Neuhaus, Balogun, Ziyech, Raphinha
    Sports13th February 2021
  • Joe Biden: The team he hopes can fix the US economy
    USA27th January 2021
  • Station reopening at Bow Street brings first trains for 56 years
    UK14th February 2021
  • Manchester United 3-3 Everton: Dominic Calvert-Lewin scores late goal to deny hosts
    Sports6th February 2021
  • Biden’s Covid stimulus plan: It costs $2tn but what’s in it?
    USA24th February 2021
  • Tiger Woods suffers ‘multiple leg injuries’ in Los Angeles car crash
    USA23rd February 2021
  • Nasa’s Perseverance rover in ‘great shape’ after Mars landing
    USA19th February 2021
  • Serena Williams leaves news conference in tears
    USA18th February 2021
  • Les Rehrer says:

    Hello Its me :P and thanks for this post

  • optumrx login says:

    Thank For News.

  • Kent Laatsch says:

    Please let me know if you're looking for a writer…

  • Bob says:

    RT News was where I learned that Erdogan controlled isis.…

Copyright © 2018 Top News Theme. Theme by MVP Themes, powered by Wordpress.

The Papers: ‘Quarantine hotels’ and jab for over-18s ‘by June’
The Papers: ‘Hope in the post’ as ‘5 million more offered jab’
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok