Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund
Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon beast sculpture trail
Welcome to Sutton Hoo’s sculpture trail. This trail has been created for us by a group of local sculpture artists, inspired by both beasts depicted on objects discovered at Sutton Hoo and the wider world of Anglo-Saxon design and legend. We hope you enjoy your wander through the woods. Map
Use this map to help you find all of the animal sculptures in the woods.
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1 3 2 1. 2. The first sculpture, behind the café, is a large Once you have crossed Garden Field you will boar. This boar is inspired by the crest of the come across a large frog beside the gate into Benty Grange helmet. The Benty Grange helmet the woods. The frog sculpture is inspired by was excavated in Derbyshire in 1848. Little the frog lurking in the design of the gold belt remained of the original helmet bar the frame buckle discovered in Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo. of riveted iron strips and the copper alloy boar The belt buckle is awash with depicitions crest which featured garnet eyes surrounded by of different animals including serpents and gold filigree decoration. Boar-crested helmets dragons. Take a trip to the High Hall exhibition are mentioned in Beowulf no less than five to see a replica of the buckle and an animation times. The boar was a symbol of strength and revealing the location of all the animals in its ferocity; important attributes for any warrior. design.
Replica of the gold belt buckle. 3. 4. Take care as you venture into the woods, you As you near the picnic site, three more boars will come across three wolves lurking on the will come into view. Two of these boars are right hand side. Two of these wolves come inspired by the boars depicted on the shoulder from the purse lid discovered in Mound 1 at clasps discovered in Mound 1 at Sutton Hoo. Sutton Hoo. The image of a person, possibly As with most of the objects, animal imagery a warrior, between two wolves was repeated abounds. Interlacing serpents border the twice on the purse lid. This image has been central cloisonné cells and if you cast your eye interpreted as a person being devoured by two towards the rounded end of the clasps you will wolves. This is perhaps a nod to the family see two interlinked boars with bodies of garnet name of the East Anglian royal dynasty– the and sections of millefiori glass on their legs. Wuffings, or ‘Wolf’s People’. The third wolf, one Our boar sculptures have been untangled from of the largest sculptures, was inspired by a tiny one another. gold mount which measures just 1cm x 0.8cm.
One half of a shoulder clasp- the boars are at the curved end.
Close-up of the wolves and warrior on the purse lid and the gold mount (right). 5. Birds of prey are another recurring beast The bird of prey is chasing sculptures of depicted on objects discovered in Mound 1 three ducks down towards the river. This was at Sutton Hoo, featuring on both the shield inspired by the depiction on the purse lid of and the purse lid. This bird, carved from oak, ducks being attacked by birds of prey. Note has particularly fine talons and is inspired by how similar the beaks are between the purse lid the bird fitted to the shield. Again, the shield birds of prey and the bird from the shield. features numerous animals including a six- winged dragon, intertwined horses around the boss and garnet-eyed heads around the rim. Were they symbolic of the strength of the Replica of the purse lid and warrior bearing the shield or were they there to a close-up of the bird of protect the shield and its bearer? prey and duck fittings. The eye of the sculpture has been crafted from bog oak- older than any of the items excavated in Mound 1.
Replica of the bird shield fitting. 6. 7. This sculpture was also inspired by a fitting Whilst not taken directly from the design on the purse lid. The original fitting features of an object discovered at Sutton Hoo, this four beasts interlaced with one another with sculpture of a bird set against the backdrop of elongated jaws and legs wrapped round one a coin has been inspired by the 37 gold coins another. Their form suggests they could be discovered in association with the purse lid in horses. These ribbon-like interlacing beasts are Mound 1. The coins provide a crucial insight for characteristic of a type of zoomorphic artwork the approximate date of the Great Ship Burial which was popular between the latter stages of placing it after 610 and before c.635. All of the the sixth century and mid-seventh century that coins were minted in the Francia, a kingdom we refer to today as Salin Style II. covering much of modern France and Germany. Three blank coins and two gold ingots were also discovered.
The tangled beasts on the purse lid. The gold coins, blanks and ingots. 8. The panels around the rim feature a series of The final sculpture, carved from oak, is six interlaced animals and the clips holding modelled on a drinking horn from the these panels to the horn feature double Sutton Hoo Great Ship Burial. Do take a seat heads with moustaches. The ends of the horn and enjoy the view over the valley across terminate in silver-gilt bird head fittings, the River Deben towards Woodbridge. The possibly a bird of prey with a large curved original horns had decayed away leaving beak. It is likely the horns would have been just the silver-gilt fittings. The position of passed around a group gathering in the the fittings and their size gave an indication feasting hall. of how large the original horns would have been. It is estimated that each horn would have had a capacity of approximately 2 litres. It is likely the horns came from an aurochs, a now extinct species of cattle.
Two of the original Candrinking you rearrange horn the letters from the pink boxes to fittings. work out what the hidden word is? You have now reached the end of the Sutton Hoo sculpture trail, we hope you have enjoyed it. Venture in to the High Hall exhibition to see some of the replicas featuring these designs. Replica of a drinking horn. #nationaltrust
The National Trust is an independent registered charity, number 205846. © National Trust 2021. Illustrations: National Trust Sutton Hoo and Michelle Hughes. Images: National Trust Images/Josh Ward/Phil Morley/Robin Pattinson, Trustees of the British Museum