Sutton Hoo — Attraction in East Suffolk

Six of us (non members) visited this site last week and were very impressed with the house & museum. We walked straight to 'The House' first but after wandering around we realised that the burial mounds were quite a distance away and my parents legs ain't what they used to be. I thought i'd noticed some mobility buggies at the entrance and walked back to ask. The lady at reception said 'Yes!' and her & a colleague drove a couple of (free) electric buggies up to the house for my folks. My mum decided that motorised transport was not for her and went to the shop instead, so the rest of us walked along the path with Dad in tow on his electric scooter (that he loved). We ended-up chatting to a few pensioner couples with walking sticks who didn't realise that mobility scooters were an option (You may need a big sign offering this as a option upon entry?). You also need to manage expectations on what people will see when they get to the barrows as EVERY couple we met on the way back was asking 'where is the boat?'... The thing is, you have pictures everywhere showing what it did look like and I think a lot of people were expecting to see the ribbed hull within the barrow, or at least a mock-up, but its obviously been back-filled over 80 years ago. All there is to denote the actual burial mound are some engraved signs on the viewing platform and a couple of ship-brow metalwork embellishments. I think you should at least plant some white flowers showing the outline of the boat on the barrow as its not obvious where the ship was found, even from the viewing platform (there is no lift by the way FYI). We visited the museum last and that blew us away. Well done. I personally enjoyed it all as archaeology is a passion of mine but a few embellishments here & there would greatly amplify the experience for those with only a casual interest, especially as the cost of entry is so high in relation to what you are expecting to see and the distance travelled...

Visiting this fascinating historical place has been on my list for a couple of decades! Finally, I took time off work, hired a campervan, and myself and trusty Greyhound made the four hour journey from York to Suffolk.

Being a National Trust member and with my staying at a local campsite I took full advantage of my short stay: visiting over three days… I couldn’t get enough, so much history to experience.

Time Team were on site in Garden Field half way through a four week archaeological dig while I was there. Their experts, along with FAS Heritage were incredibly welcoming and freely gave their time explaining the work they were doing and their goals. Absolutely fascinating.

The NT staff at Sutton Hoo were equally friendly, welcoming, incredibly knowledgeable and couldn’t do enough for you to make your visit enjoyable.

The site is largely dog friendly too, which was important to me- I’m pretty much inseparable from my hound, wherever I go, she goes… and if she’s not welcome at a particular place then I’ll always give it a miss. Sutton Hoo and their staff and volunteers made my Greyhound equally welcome, she quickly sussed out there were dog treats behind the counter in the gift shop… she was made a fuss of every time we went in (I gladly came away with a lot of purchases each time! All goes towards supporting this ancient historical site).

The exhibition hall has a stunning walk through display (only guide dogs permitted here, a staff member kindly looked after the hound outside while I whizzed around the exhibits! So grateful).

The grounds are beguiling… the burial mounds, Tranmere House, River View Field… a sympathetically managed landscape, you can get a real sense of going back in time to the era of the Anglo Saxons.

This place has a unique atmosphere: calming, contemplative, oozing historical significance. It kept me going...

I have driven past Sutton Hoo hundreds of times, and during half term we made the decision to actually visit. I had gone with the expectation that we likely wouldn't be there long as the kids would probably mess around or something. Also, how much time could you fill looking at some old graves?! Once parked we headed to the ticket area, and we used a free voucher that we had - no issues at all with using this which was nice. The person gave us a good note of what to expect and where things could be located for the small people.

Once out we started with the ship (as its right in front of you when you come out) and then shortly after that we headed to the exhibition hall where there was a shirt film, an area showing the Kings helmet and burial items, and various other bits. For the kids they had an opportunity to dress up, play an Anglo saxon game, do some brass tracing. From here we then ventured across to the burial area and up the look put tower, which is a nice addition. We then headed over to the house which has the ground floor open to view. We stretched this out a little as kids had some things to search / look out for. We didn't get time to do the walking trail as kids did start to get a bit restless, but I was surprised that we had been there a couple of hours.

In terms of what was available, I think there could have been more information - for example at the burial grounds there was a mound for 39 executed people, but no other information? I also found out after visiting that a TV programme was made about the place, but I got no indication of this whilst I was there. (Which I will try and watch at some point to get a little more info about the place!)

I can't comment on the restaurant or shop as I didn't personally go in there - the wife did and I got the impression it was usual...