Sutton Hoo ship replica build takes next step forward

Work to start nailing up the hull of a replica of the Anglo-Saxon ship found at Sutton Hoo has got under way.

The 88ft (27m) reconstruction of the burial ship, excavated in 1939, is being built in a shed beside the River Deben in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

The story of its discovery was told in the Netflix film The Dig, starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes.

Project leaders said building the hull was a "big step as it signals the ship is going to take on its full shape".

Currently, the team behind the £1.5m scheme have built the "backbone" of the ship - including the keel, stem and sternpost - and now they have started attaching planks with rivets.

Master shipwright Tim Kirk said it would take a year for 100 oak planks to be nailed on.

"This time next year, we should see the whole ship in its full glory," he added.

It is hoped the ship can be launched into the Deben in 2024, just across the river from the Sutton Hoo estate.

Sutton Hoo is thought to be the final resting place of the King Raedwald - the 7th Century Anglo-Saxon ruler of East Anglia.

Treasures unearthed there have been described as one of "greatest archaeological discoveries of all time".

Although archaeologists uncovered an imprint of the original ship, all of its timber had rotted away in the acidic soil - but its iron rivets remained.

Sutton Hoo Ship's Company, the charity behind the reconstruction project, started the design phase in 2016 and volunteers have been using traditional methods to build the ship.

Project manager Jacq Barnard said they were "delighted" to be at this stage of the build process.

"This really is significant because once we've started to put the planks on, we'll start to see a proper ship," she said.

Mr Kirk said all 3,598 rivets had to be nailed by hand and it was a three-person job.

He said each plank took 40 hours to make and they were aiming to make two planks a week.

The planks are being made from 20 oak trees. Four have been donated by the National Trust from its Blickling Hall estate in Norfolk, with the rest also being donated by other benefactors.

For every oak used, Sutton Hoo Ship's Company plans to plant 20 trees.

Ms Barnard said they had 90 volunteers but they needed more people, with different skillsets, for the project.

Source: BBC

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