Excavations At Sutton Hoo
In 1938 Basil Brown was by agreement released from his employment by Ipswich Museum for a season during which he was paid by Mrs Edith May Pretty to excavate three of the mounds on her estate at Sutton Hoo near Woodbridge. In these months he excavated three disturbed burials or cremation burials of the sixth or early seventh centuries which had been plundered of most of their contents. One had apparently contained a wooden ship held together with iron rivets, though their positions did not permit a reconstruction of the ship. It was soon realised that the site was either of Anglo-Saxon or Viking age, but that question was not decided either by Mr Brown or the Ipswich Museum authorities (who maintained supervision of his work) during the first season. At the end of this work, Mr Brown returned immediately to his work for the Museum, at Stanton Chair.
In Spring 1939 Mr Brown returned to the employment of Mrs Pretty for a second season at Sutton Hoo, and made the wonderful discovery of the 27 meter-long ship impression in the sandy soil beneath the largest mound. In June the site was visited by Charles Phillips, who some weeks later began his campaign to clear the undisturbed but crushed burial chamber of an Anglo-Saxon potentate of the early seventh century AD (thought by many to be the grave of Raedwald of East Anglia). Charles Phillips was employed by the Office of Works, and led a team including W.F. Grimes, O.G.S. Crawford, Stuart and Peggy Piggot, and assisted by many other famous academics and archaeologists who were admitted to the site while the story was kept secret from the general public.
Basil Brown maintained a respectful relationship with Mrs Pretty, and completed his work for her by remaining until the very end, after the experts had finished with his discovery, and carrying out her instructions. He was obliged to steer a careful path among the scholars and other authorities, for there were differences between Phillips and the Ipswich Museum representatives. Mr Brown gave his witness at the treasure trove inquest in September 1939, when (after a newspaper leak) the astonishing treasures were first seen by the general public in attendance. He worked again at Stanton Chair for short periods late in 1939 and during 1940.
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