The remains of a possible temple from 1,400 years ago have been discovered on private farmland near Sutton Hoo.
Experts excavating the remains say the building may have been used for pre-Christian worship, or could have been a ‘cult house’.
Sutton Hoo, in Suffolk, is one of the country’s most important historical sites. In June 1939, as war approached, archaeologists discovered a burial chamber full of extraordinary treasures on the site, eventually revealing an Anglo-Saxon royal burial ground that revolutionised early English history.
In the years since, the area has continued to divulge astonishing secrets from the past.
Last year, the remains of a large timber royal hall were uncovered at Rendlesham, four miles away, confirming the spot as a settlement of the East Anglian kings.
Suffolk County Council said digs this year found evidence of fine metalworking associated with royal occupation, including a mould used for casting decorative horse harnesses similar to those known from nearby Sutton Hoo.
The compound at Rendlesham was found to be more than twice the size previously thought, bordered by a near mile-long perimeter ditch enclosing an area of 15 hectares – about the size of 20 football pitches.
The royal residence was part of a wider settlement complex covering 50 hectares, which is unique in the archaeology of 5th to 8th century England in its size and complexity, the council said.
The longship burial at Sutton Hoo, around four miles from Rendlesham, is thought to be the final resting place of King Raedwald, who ruled in the 7th century.
The discovery of a ‘possible temple’ at Rendlesham was made this summer by Suffolk County Council’s Rendlesham Revealed community archaeology project, which is lottery funded.
The project’s principal academic adviser Professor Christopher Scull, of Cardiff University and University College London, said: ‘The results of excavations at Rendlesham speak vividly of the power and wealth of the East Anglian kings and the sophistication of the society they ruled.
‘The possible temple, or cult house, provides rare and remarkable evidence for the practice at a royal site of the pre-Christian beliefs that underpinned early English society.
‘Its distinctive and substantial foundations indicate that one of the buildings, 10 metres long and five metres wide, was unusually high and robustly built for its size, so perhaps it was constructed for a special purpose.
‘It is most similar to buildings elsewhere in England that are seen as temples or cult houses, therefore it may have been used for pre-Christian worship by the early kings of the East Angles.’
This summer’s excavations revealed the foundations of three new timber buildings including the possible temple.
They also identified evidence of 7th century metal working, two graves of an unknown date and evidence of earlier settlement and activity from the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman periods.
‘This year’s findings round off three seasons of fieldwork which confirm the international significance of Rendlesham’s archaeology and its fundamental importance for our knowledge of early England,’ said Suffolk County councillor Melanie Vigo di Gallidoro.
‘Everyone involved in the project can take pride that together we have achieved something remarkable.’
The council said the excavations are complete and trenches at the site have been backfilled, with work already underway to analyse the finds, with provisional results due next year.
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