Hundreds celebrate Sutton Hoo 1,400th anniversary

11 August 2025

Alice Cunningham,BBC News, Suffolkand

Stephen Huntley,BBC News, Suffolk, Sutton Hoo

News image — Hundreds of people gathered at Sutton Hoo to celebrate the anniversary of the famous ship being buried

Stephen Huntley/BBC A large group of people stood in a line in a field. The reenactors are dressed in Anglo-Saxon-style clothing, some are carrying long spears and others are carrying shields Some are also wearing Anglo-Saxon-style helmets. — Hundreds of people gathered at Sutton Hoo to celebrate the anniversary of the famous ship being buried

Hundreds of people visited the site of where an Anglo-Saxon ship was buried to celebrate its 1,400th anniversary.

Sutton Hoo near Woodbridge, Suffolk, is famous for the excavation that revealed the ship in 1939, considered to be one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time.

To celebrate the anniversary of the ship's burial in 625 AD, re-enactors from across the world came together to recreate the burial ceremony.

Lizzie Musson, the event's organiser who is part of the group Wulfheodenas which celebrates the 6th and 7th Centuries, said it had been "a big task" to orchestrate.

Stephen Huntley/BBC Lizzie Musson smiles at the camera. She has long brown hair which is parted to the side. She wears a blue cape. Behind her Anglo-Saxon recreated villages and scenes can be seen, — Lizzie Musson helped organise the celebratory event at Sutton Hoo over the weekend

"Sutton Hoo and the burial here, the finds and treasures, have huge significance for Britain," she explained.

"When I realised it was the 1,400-year anniversary, I hadn't heard anything about it being celebrated and I thought it needed to be done.

"I think it is the biggest gathering of living historians that we've had on the site so I'm quite pleased about that."

Stephen Huntley/BBC Various Anglo-Saxon items like a helmet, shield, horns and more rest on the ground. — The burial of the ship was recreated complete with Anglo-Saxon gifts that would have been offered

Historians believe the ship was for the ruler King Raedwald of East Anglia, but they will never be sure as when the ship was found any bodily remains were claimed by the acidic local soil and only the treasures inside remained.

Ms Musson described Sutton Hoo as the "jewel in the crown of Suffolk" and believed it should be celebrated more.

Over the weekend 80 living historians were also on site while actors portrayed what life was like during this time.

There was also a recreation of the ship's burial complete with music and readings.

Stephen Huntley/BBC Colin Steenbergen holds his head high as he looks away from the camera. The sides of his head has been shaved, but he has some long hair on top which has been slicked back. He wears a chequered robe around his shoulders. — Colin Steenbergen travelled nine hours to attend the event at Sutton Hoo

Colin Steenbergen is a re-enactor from the Netherlands, but has lived in Switzerland for 20 years.

He travelled close to nine hours to get to Sutton Hoo after being invited by other re-enactors.

Mr Steenbergen said he had been "awestruck" when he saw other well-known re-enactors on the site and had met some of his heroes.

Stephen Huntley/BBC Three reenactors including two men and a woman are dressed like they are from Anglo-Saxon times and they play instruments and sing. — Re-enactors played music for guests on site during the event

"In my opinion it might be one of the most important archaeological finds in western Europe," Mr Steenbergen said of Sutton Hoo.

"I do think it carries with it an extreme importance and weight which connects people to this day because it is a bit of heritage that we should truly treasure in my opinion," he added.

Stephen Huntley/BBC Josh Ward looks to the left of the camera and he has a concentrating expression on his face. He has thinning dark hair and a thick beard. He wears a black T-shirt. — Josh Ward of the National Trust was pleased to see so many people had visited from across the world

National Trust customer experience director, Josh Ward, said it had been "the most incredible spectacle" to see so many people come from all over the world to celebrate the site, including visitors from Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland.

"Sutton Hoo is one of the most important archaeological sites in the world and people do come from all over the place to see it," he said.

"We've got living history experts... it's a real international gathering and the biggest living history event we've ever had at Sutton Hoo."