We rarely get a chance in our lives to make history and build a legacy for future generations. The extraordinary tale of uncovering an immense Anglo-Saxon King's burial ship and its golden treasure at Sutton Hoo is a story for all ages, recounted in the Netflix film "The Dig". The Sutton Hoo Ship's Company has taken on the iconic task of building and taking to sea, a copy of the ship that was buried at Sutton Hoo in around 625 and was possibly the grave of King Raedwald.
The ship is being built as authentically as possible in Woodbridge, Suffolk, less than a mile as the crow flies from where the original ship was buried. Our many local volunteers are using traditional tools and a design based on the archaeological knowledge from the site, plus modern-day research techniques. It is planned that the maiden voyage will take place in the spring of 2025 and follow some of the river and sea routes that the original sailors may have taken.
A brief history of the Ship
The burial mounds at Sutton Hoo were originally excavated by Basil Brown, an amateur archaeologist who worked for Mrs Pretty, the widowed owner of the estate. The retelling of their story in the Netflix film "The Dig", is capturing peoples' imagination all over the world. The first hurried excavation at Sutton Hoo was in 1939 on the cusp of the Second World War. Since then, we have learned a lot about the treasures that were found. But, over eighty years on, there is still much to learn about the ship and the treasure that was buried in it.
When the burial mound was excavated all that remained of the ship was an imprint in the sand where the wood had been and the rusty remains of thousands of iron rivets that had fixed the planks together. Three years of research, based on the archaeological records, and modelling using the latest digital technologies means that we now have accurate plans to rebuild a ship, as near as possible to the one that the Anglo-Saxons buried.
"Working on the film The Dig has given me a compelling insight into the history of Sutton Hoo. I am very excited that a team of volunteers at the Sutton Hoo Ship's Company are actually recreating King Raedwald's famous vessel... I can't wait to see it when it is finished. I wish everyone involved all success in this great project!" Ralph Fiennes
Our Volunteers
Our Volunteers come from all walks of life, ranging in age from 16 to over 90 are taking part in the project, under the guidance of our professional shipwright, and other experts. They have worked valiantly throughout Covid and have dealt with many challenges not least some flooding in the Longshed during the storms in 2022!
Progress to date
We have been incredibly lucky with donations of oak to make the keel of the ship from local landowners. Each individual piece of the keel required about 400 hours of axe work to create and the full keel was finished at the end of last year, or so we thought! When disaster struck and it was discovered that one of the sections had split and would have to be replaced. This resulted in a nationwide hunt for just the right piece of timber which took three months and a huge social media campaign.
Looking forward
The new section of the keel was fitted in November and the very first plank nailed to the ship late last year. We are now ready to fully plank the ship but we need to make up the time we have lost and progress at speed!
To do this we need your help! We need to raise £50,000 to cover our rent and provide the necessary safety equipment, tools and training to our volunteers, as well as to pay our skilled shipwrights to supervise the workforce and get back up to speed. The project is not fully funded so we are always looking for ways to raise funds. This Crowdfunder is our way of appealing to a wide audience who can help us complete the ship.
Please give generously!
Everyone who donates to this campaign is helping to get the project back on target and contributing to the continuing story of the magnificent ship built for a King in the 7th century!
What will you get?
We appreciate every pound that is donated and cannot express our gratitude deeply enough. As a small token of our thanks, we have developed a fantastic range of rewards that you can receive as one of our Crowdfunders. In addition, we have created some special opportunities to talk to our Master Shipwright - Tim Kirk or Professor Emeritus Martin Carver - Archeologist and Ship's Historian extraordinaire or even to visit the project and learn how to use an axe!
Please follow us on Social media (@SaxonShip or @SuttonHooShipsCompany) and signup for our Newsletter via the website for detailed insights into the experiments we are conducting and how the build is progressing.