Sutton Hoo to feature in ITV's "Secrets from the Sky" series
Published: Monday 10th Nov 2014
Written by: Suffolk Secrets Team
Sutton Hoo in Suffolk will be featured in ITV’s 5th episode of “Secrets from the Sky" on Friday 14th November at 8:00pm.
ITV’s Friday night series “Secrets from the Sky” explores some of the most mysterious and historic landmarks in Britain - as seen from a bird’s eye view. With the aid of an “octocopter” - a remote controlled helicopter which carries a camera - aerial archaeologist Ben Robinson and historian Bettany Hughes will be exploring Suffolk’s very own Sutton Hoo – site of a spectacular Anglo Saxon Royal Cemetery.
The series’ presenters will be uncovering the mystery behind the Suffolk burial grounds that contain several Anglo-Saxon Kings, their families, servants, ship and a hoard of priceless treasures including helmets, jewel-encrusted swords and purse lids.
Located in quiet, unassuming field on the banks of the beautiful River Deben (opposite Woodbridge), the eerie and enigmatic burial grounds of King Raewald – chief of the Kingdom of Eastern Angles (East Anglia) – were left untouched for over 1300 years. In the 5th episode of Secrets from the Sky, archaeologist Ben Robinson discovers why this incredible site may have lay undiscovered for so long using the fabulous octocopter to assist him in viewing details of the landscape that are not usually visible from the ground.
Ben says: “There’s a cluster of stone-filled shapes about the size of graves and there’s suspicious long straight lines, cutting through the site, but all around are these mounds, which show up really nicely…These are burial mounds. The idea is that you put a body in the centre in a pit or some sort of vessel and then mound the soil up on top. These are not every day burial monuments, not by any stretch of the imagination. These were reserved for really important people.”
The Sutton Hoo programme airs this Friday 14th November at 8:00pm. For more details on Secrets from the Sky visit the ITV website by clicking here.
Sutton Hoo is located close to many of our Woodbridge cottages. For more information on Sutton Hoo - a National Trust managed attraction, click here.
