Rare 1,400-Year-Old Temple Possibly Used By East Anglian Kings Discovered In Suffolk, UK

Conny Waters - AncientPages.com -  Archaeologists have found more evidence that a site at Rendlesham, near Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, UK, was important to East Anglian Kings.

Previous excavation led to the discovery of a large timber Royal Hall, confirming the location as a royal settlement of the East Anglian Kings.  The 1,400-year-old hall was "recorded in the writings of The Venerable Bede of the 8th Century". Bede was a monk who became the first British historian.

Rendlesham Revelead: showing the archaeological remains including the probable temple or cult house (left hand side) and boundary ditch (centre). Photo credit:  Jim Pullen

Rendlesham was the center from which a significant province of the East Anglian kingdom, focused on the valley of the River Deben, was ruled for 150 years, between AD 570 and AD 720.

In his writings, Bede stated that Rendlesham was where the East Anglian King Aethelwold stood sponsor at the baptism of King Swithelm of the East Saxons between A.D. 655 and 663.

During recent excavations, the Suffolk County Council’s Rendlesham Revealed community archaeology project, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund uncovered evidence of fine metalworking associated with royal occupation, including a mould used for casting decorative horse harness similar to that known from the nearby princely burial ground at Sutton Hoo.

"The royal compound was found to have been more than twice the size than was previously thought, bounded by a 1.5 kilometre-long perimeter ditch that enclosed an area of 15 hectares (the equivalent to about 20 football pitches).

The royal residence was part of a wider settlement complex covering 50 hectares which is unique in the archaeology of 5^th to 8^th century England in its scale and complexity.

This year’s breakthrough caps a three-year campaign of excavation that transforms expectations and understanding of the period," the Suffolk County Council informs in a press release.

Evidence of a 1,400-year-old royal hall has been found in Suffolk. Credit: Suffolk County Council

"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.

1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo burial ship. Image credit: Harold John Phillips  - Public Domain

“Its distinctive and substantial foundations indicate that one of the buildings, 10 meters long and 5 meters 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,"Professor Christopher Scull (Cardiff University and University College London), the project’s principal academic advisor said.

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The site is of great interest and historical importance, especially since Bede records that King Redwald, who died c AD 625 and whose grave is thought to be the Sutton Hoo ship burial, maintained a temple in which there were altars to pre-Christian Gods alongside an altar to Christ – although he does not specifically say this was at Rendlesham.

Hopefully, future archaeological finds can provide more answers about the site's connection to the East Anglian Kings.

Written by Conny Waters - AncientPages.com Staff Writer