Day 221 - August 8th

Today we visited Sutton Hoo. We last visited the site of the 7th century burial mounds which are managed by the National Trust, in May 2009. The site has seen much improvement since we last visited with a new visitor centre and cafe, enhanced exhibition room and the opening to the public of part of Tranmer House (the homes of Mrs Edith Pretty the landowner who instigated the archaeological digs at Sutton Hoo in the 1930s)

The Exhibition Room included a reconstruction of the burial chamber which was discovered in mound 1 and hand-crafted replicas of the treasures which were found within the burial chamber including the magnificent helmet.

After visiting the exhibition we walked to the burial mounds which are clearly visible in the landscape.

The ground floor of Tranmer House (Originally called 'Sutton Hoo House') is open to the public and has been decorated and furnished as it may have been in the 1930s when the burial mounds were being excavated.

One of the outbuildings has been set out how it was when iy was used as the archaeologist's workshop at the time of the excavation.

After we had explored, it was time for refreshments so we retired to the cafe.

Later we drove the short distance to the riverside market town of Woodbridge.

We walked alongside the river near the Tide Mill.

Outside a church we found a huge metal sculpture of two hands - just perfect for a rest.

In the evening we walked the short distance from our house to the pub where we sat in the garden and Wayne and Christopher sampled the local beers.