Another “Mary Rose” is found….

  I well remember all the excitement when Henry VIII’s Mary Rose was found and brought to the surface for the first time since his reign. The event was broadcast live and we watched as she reappeared inch by slow inch. Yes, it was quite a story. But then, Henry VIII (love him or hate…

Returning to Sutton Hoo

The Mid Anglia branch of the Richard III society met at Woodbridge railway station and drove to the National Trust’s Sutton Hoo. Sutton Hoo, made famous this year by the release of Netflix’s “The Dig”, starring Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan, is the site of the Royal burial ground of East Anglia’s 6th, 7th and…

This Union: The Ghost Kingdoms of England

This is an excellent series on BBC4 about the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that eventually evolved to fill the vacuum left by departure of the Roman legions. In the first episode, Ian Hislop visits East Anglia, particularly Colchester, Ipswich and Sutton Hoo, viewing some coins with Philip Wise and hearing about the Wuffingas, apparently descended from a…

A holy Anglo-Saxon family

The best known Wuffing king of East Anglia was Raedwald, who is almost certainly buried at Sutton Hoo, in a transitional style that befits a convert to Christianity. Anna (male despite the name) was his nephew and eventual successor and no fewer than four of his daughters, together with his son, were canonised. Among Raedwald’s…

London’s Greatest Bridges (continued)

This series finally resumed on Channel Five at the beginning of October, to cover two of the newer structures over the Thames, neither of which are in the original form. As usual, Rob Bell’s enthusiasm is infectious and his programmes are highly informative. Episode Three covered Westminster Bridge. By 1700, the population of London was…

A little before Richard’s time …

Originally posted on Mid Anglia Group, Richard III Society:
… Ipswich had a Roman villa, which is now in the back garden of Tranmere Grove, a short road just north of the allotments railway line. Time Team came to visit it in 2004.

Digital reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo ship….

To read all about the project illustrated above, go to saxonship. See also the Mail. I have to say though that if the bow is on the left of the middle picture, and the vessel is presumably moving from right to left…aren’t the oarsmen sitting the wrong way around? Or are they intentionally going backward?…

Would this be your top ten list of Britain’s buried treasures….?

Here are the headlines from an article in The Guardian:- “….Red Lady to Richard III: Britain’s 10 best buried treasures – ranked! “….How does ‘Britain’s Tutankhamun’, a Saxon prince’s tomb found near an Aldi in Southend-on-Sea, fit in with the UK’s great archaeological finds?….” To read the full list of these ten discoveries, go to…

Raedwald again

Basil Brown’s work at Sutton Hoo, on secondment from Ipswich Museum, began in summer 1938 and reached “Mound One” today in 1939. In time, he explored the many mounds on that site, one of which probably includes the remains of Raedwald, King of East Anglia to about 624 and Bretwalda of England from 616. Raedwald,…

Developments at Sutton Hoo

This East Anglian Daily Times article reveals that Sutton Hoo, almost certainly the burial of Raedwald, the Wuffing King of East Anglia who was Richard III’s collateral ancestor, will be the subject of its first major dig for nearly thirty years. A new viewing tower (left) will be installed during the process, between May 29th…