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Rendlesham Revealed project receives National Lottery Heritage funding
4 February 2020
Suffolk’s Anglo-Saxon past will be revealed following the award of a National Lottery grant for the Rendlesham community archaeology project.
A National Lottery Heritage Fund grant has been awarded to Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service (SCCAS) to fund a large, community archaeological project to uncover the hidden archaeology in the Deben valley in south-east Suffolk.
Rendlesham Revealed: Anglo-Saxon Life in South-East Suffolk will connect the unique stories of the princely burials of Sutton Hoo and the site of the royal palace at Rendlesham. This will put them into the context of the wider Anglo-Saxon communities and landscapes of which they were part.
Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the £517,300 grant will unlock at least a further £200,000 in match funding from local and national partners, universities and volunteers. This match funding includes smaller cash grants generously given by the UCL Institute of Archaeology, the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History, The Sutton Hoo Society and Council of British Archaeology East. This project has also been made possible by the kind support of local landowners.
Local people will be a vital part of this four-year community archaeology project. SCCAS and their partners will directly engage local residents, schools, young people and volunteers from south-east Suffolk and Ipswich and there will be a range of opportunities for local people to volunteer and be trained in on-site archaeological survey and excavation, as well as taking part in hands-on experimental archaeology events, specialist and family workshops, guided walks and exhibitions. These activities will take place in south-east Suffolk and Ipswich from summer 2020-2023.
According to Christopher Scull (Honorary Visiting Professor, UCL Institute of Archaeology):
“The support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund will allow the people of Suffolk to investigate, understand and protect fragile archaeology of international importance. Setting Rendlesham and Sutton Hoo in their wider landscape promises new understandings of the early East Anglian kingdom, its people and its rulers, and the wider English and North Sea worlds of which they were a part.”
Events, workshops and volunteer opportunities will be widely advertised, follow @SCCArchaeology on Twitter, Instagram and @SCCArchaeologicalService on Facebook to keep up-to-date. Those interested in participating in the project should complete the online form on the Suffolk County Council website.