Sutton Hoo Her Say Women Of Discovery As a preamble to their performances, traditional storytellers in Majorca would say: “It was so, and it was not so!” So, a warning! This tour is a story-telling of beautiful and mysterious Sutton Hoo. Whilst the known facts have been my starting point - if you are looking for absolute his- torical accuracy the wonderful exhibition here and the many excellent books available in the bookshop are your best next stop after your walk. There is always a lot of gap filling required in archeology - as the constant ebb and flow between our two characters Speculation and Evidence will show and there is also some condensing of time-lines (or the story would have taken hundreds of years to tell) I will confess to a little artistic license but hope that the spirit of the story is sound. 1 The Land Army were housed at Sutton Hoo from 1942. Mrs. Pretty moved out to stay with friends while the women were billeted in her home. She died while she was away so never returned after the war. 2 Mrs. Pretty was the co-heir with her sister of a considerable fortune when their father died. She spent many years caring for her father so she married late in life. Her hus- band first proposed when she was 18 and she finally said yes when she was 43. They bought the house at Sutton Hoo and Basil Brown was employed to investigate the buri- al mounds on her land. Mrs. Pretty was interested in spiritualism - an interest she shared with Basil, according to some of his letters to his wife. 3 The Rabbits - Many reports of the early digs at Sutton Hoo talk about the rabbits who had done as much to make holes in the burial mounds as the archeologists. 4 The Tudors - "the lunch of the disappointed" This was the name given by the 1939 ex- cavators to the attempts by Tudor treasure-seekers. They had managed to completely miss Redwaeld's burial chamber during their dig although they left behind shards of pottery which identified and dated them - their broken lunch-boxes! As you'll hear, we don't KNOW that it was the extraordinary Doctor Dee who dug here - but he had been given a general treasure hunting license and it's interesting to imagine it might have been him - if it was, he wasn't the first. 5 The burial scene. Very little is known about Raedwald's queen - not even her name, but we do know that she was a strong woman who influenced her husband in both poli- tics and religion. He famously kept 'a temple with two altars' - being baptised into Christianity whilst retaining some of his old beliefs to which his wife adhered. This sce- ne is inspired by the ship burial found in the poem 'Beowulf'. Raedwald means ‘Power in counsel’. The grave goods song overleaf is inspired by the finds in the chamber. We send you onto the next world, our master With all you need to meet with mighty Wodin Your purse with coins to pay for your journey He'll smile at the twin-wolves carving. We give you food and fine wine, our master We leave you games to play with mighty Wodin Your shield and sword and fearsome helmet Will show the gods your strength in fighting. We leave you garnets and gold, our master The dead will recognise you for a King A stag-topped sceptre, a wolf-topped wand And the lyre for you to strum and sing. 6 The two photographers Mercie Lack and Barbara Wagstaff were both teachers by pro- fession. Their photographs have left an invaluable record not only of the archeology, but of the people involved too. Peggy Piggot (later known as Margaret Guido) and her hus- band had been called in as part of the Cambridge University team. It was Peggy who found the first piece of the treasure - she later became an expert on ancient British glass beads. The Piggots were not, in reality, at the dig at the same time as Mercie and Barbara but I’ve squashed time in order for them to meet and reveal something about their lives. 7 The museum men. This scene never happened in real life of course - nor anything like it! But as the importance of the finds at the dig increased, it seemed that everyone wanted their own establishment to have been the leading force. Many intense letters and messages were exchanged! 8 Back to the Land - I'm sure that at some time during their stay, the Land Army wom- en may have played host to some chaps from RAF Bentwaters nearby. The airfield was used by RAF Bomber Command and from 1945 the USAF also flew escort missions from there during the war. The Land Army left Sutton Hoo in 1947 and since Edith Pretty's son was only 12 when his mother died, he too never returned to the house. It passed into the ownership of the war office. 9 And now... The 245 acres of Sutton Hoo are finally in the care of the National Trust on behalf of the nation for all to enjoy. The Trust is just about to embark on a big pro- ject supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund - 'Releasing the Story of Sutton Hoo' which will transform the visitor experience on the site. Cast Ryan Adams– Speculation Sophia Barrett– Evidence Dylan Brown– Spirit, Burial Christian, Thomas Kendrick, Jonnie– RAF Brentwaters Lauren Dunning– Spirit, Pagan Priestess, Party Guest Alfie Dye– Stuart Piggot, Ralph Wilson, Lenny– Local Farmer Justin Glenister– Dr Dee, Arthur Fairweather, Chas– Local Butcher Crystal Knott– Rabbit, Burial Pagan, Pauline Eren Kucukkaramuklu– Spirit, Christian Priest, Charles Phillips, Party Guest Lauren Hobbs– Mrs Pretty, Burial Christian Mia Hoy– Peggy Piggot Abigail Laker– Ivy Becca Lomas– Rabbit, Burial Christian, Joyce Bronwyn Murton– Rabbit, Burial Pagan, Lily Jamie Musora– Queen Elizabeth, Party Guest Anna Payne– Rabbit, Barbara, Party Guest Katie Pickering– Rabbit, Burial Christian, Kay William Rice– Basil Brown, Burial Christian Emily Scott– Dolly Chloe Sheehan– Spirit, Queen Raedwald, Party Guest Ryan Smith– Perkin, Guy Maynard, Party Guest Tom Stevens– Spirit, SigeBerht, Greg– RAF Brentwaters Liam Swain– Lambert, Lieutenant Commander Hutchinson, Party Guest Thalia Weavers– Mercie, Mrs Tranmer Brayden Weibel-Seckley–Spirit, Eorpwald, Ralph– RAF Brentwaters Jess Weston– Rabbit, Margie Production Team Gip Luongo– Director Lynn Whitehead– Writer Tim Westerman– Production Manager Robert Andrews and Katie Pickering- Choreography Crew Zoe Cole Ashley Price Jake Cooper-Newton Leanne Smith Nathan Dawes Tanya Starling James Hopwood Doug Tagg Dani Parnell Thanks The cast and crew of Sutton Hoo: Her Say, Women of Discovery would like to thank: the National Trust Volunteers: Linda, Pat and Janice for the Anglo Saxon costumes, Melton Community Primary School for Helmet Sculpture, Masquerade and the Theatre Royal, as well as Iain Slessor for his help on our trip to the site, and Rebecca Harpur for her help through- out the project. 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