The Sutton Hoo Ship's Company
Around 1,400 years ago early in the 7th century there was a magnificent Anglo-Saxon ship-burial at Sutton Hoo near the river Deben. Slowly but surely the longship is being brought back to life.
Whilst it cannot be confirmed definitively it has become widely accepted that the burial in mound 1 at Sutton Hoo was of King Rædwald, of the Wuffingas, but there is still some disagreement about this. Rædwald died in 624 and was probably closely associated the nearby “royal” complex at Rendlesham1.
There are several burial mounds at Sutton Hoo2 and when mound 1 was excavated in 1939 many magnificent finds were unearthed, many of which are on display in room 41 (“Sutton Hoo and Europe”) at the British Museum (a great day out in its own right).
Famously the excavation revealed the outlined shape of an 89-foot longship, and that outline was carefully recorded and photographed. You can see many of these in the National Trust’s photographic collection of Mercie Lack and Barbara Wagstaff.
The Sutton Hoo Ship's Company was formed in 2016 with the objective of reconstructing the longship based on what was documented in 1939, and in the subsequent excavation between 1965 and 1971.
The reconstruction is taking in place at The Longshed in Woodbridge, a short distance over the river Deben from Sutton Hoo itself. There’s a great Time Team documentary about the project here:
The team provides regular updates via their YouTube channel and on X. They also issue a great monthly newsletter which is definitely worth a sign-up. And best of all, you can visit The Longshed yourself!