An ash tree with a burial mound © National Trust/Josh Ward
"So, our tree is a living reminder of one lucky story of a chance survival of the glorious symbols of ancient royal power as well as another, bleaker, aspect of that power.”
"After the Royal family of the kingdom of East Anglia stopped burying their rulers at Sutton Hoo, in a bizarre twist, it became an execution place. It appears that the criminals were hung from the spreading boughs of a great tree as a warning to passes-by on the nearby road."
An ash tree with a burial mound © National Trust/Jasmine Carlin
"Luckily for us the disappointed miners moved on to the other mounds where sadly they succeeded in plundering most of the contents.
Our tree also reminds us of another tree which stood nearby a thousand years ago."
"Essentially miners rather than archaeologists, they would melt down anything of value they found. The grave robbers aimed their shaft at what they thought was the middle of the mound, not realising that part of the mound was missing they missed the burial chamber by a metre."
"Some years later, in about 1600, when our tree was a little sapling, treasure seekers arrived to look in the mounds for gold and silver. These characters were probably licensed by the crown as all such buried treasure was owned by the sovereign and to dig without a license was a capital offence."
"It's not the biggest or most venerable looking tree at Sutton Hoo but it is a relic of a small event which saved the great Sutton Hoo treasure from an ignominious end in a metalsmith’s crucible.
Our tree stands on a slight bank telling us that it was once in a hedge dividing two fields."
View of one of the burial mounds at Sutton Hoo with an old ash tree in the foreground
Today we’re hearing from Angus, NT archaeologist for the East of England, on our theme of archaeology and nature, with a visit to Sutton Hoo:
“Almost unnoticed beside one of the Royal burial mounds at Sutton Hoo is a rather unremarkable looking old Ash tree."
This was an amazing discovery at Culloden. Very much a team effort from our metal detectorists, archaeology volunteers, NTS Culloden staff, Ramora uk and Conservator - Will Murray. Thanks to everyone. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
@tonypollard.bsky.social @currentarchaeology.bsky.social
The site of a medieval settlement at Frog Firle within the bend of a river
A wall in an archaeological trench with a red and white ranging pole for scale
A medieval settlement at Frog Firle, in the Cuckmere Valley, has been investigated, with geophysical surveys undertaken by the Wealden Archaeology Group, and a number of trenches supervised by Archaeology South East, revealing evidence of activity at the site from prehistory to the medieval period.
A group of ‘Monument Monitors’ volunteers posing for a photo while undertaking an archaeological survey
The Changing Chalk heritage officer, Gary (centre) with two volunteers burning scrub that had been removed from a scheduled monument
Archaeology and heritage has been woven into the project, from people training to monitor significant heritage sites to become ‘Monument Monitors’ and clearance of scrub on and around Scheduled Monuments to programmes of archaeological survey and investigation.
The project area is largely within the South Downs National Park, and is home to rare and protected wildlife and plant life, and important archaeological sites. Indeed, this chalk grassland is special because its origins are a result of people clearing forested areas to settle and farm.
The aims of the project are to support nature recovery and climate resilience, create opportunities for work, learning and leisure for people in the area and to provide engaging activities for people to enjoy, enhancing health and wellbeing.
Chalk downland wildflowers on Fulking Escarpmeny at Devil's Dyke, West Sussex ©National Trust Images/Laurence Perry
Led by the National Trust, Changing Chalk is a landscape-scale partnership connecting nature, people and heritage on and around the South Downs, with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, People’s Postcode Lottery and the Linbury Trust. 🧵
The Lego group showing off certificates for participating in the Lego League with David
David said "It’s amazing to see this group combining engineering and archaeology and putting forward such innovative designs. They would all make my work as lot easier!"
A group of people stood around a table with various Lego models with two members of the group showing off their ideas
Their ideas included a vehicle to drag large geophysics scanner, a self digging spade, and the “Archopod”, a multi-terrain creeper that could carry remote scanning equipment into hard to reach or dangerous places.
With the theme “Unearthed”, teams from the Lego group in Montgomery, mid Wales, were challenged to explore how technology can support archaeology through robot games and an innovation project.
After hearing David talk about the tools he uses, 4 teams set out to design their own creative solutions.
David talking to the Lego group and showing some of the tools he uses as an archaeologist
Something a little different this morning - one of our Wales archaeologists, David Thomas, recently got an unexpected boost from some brilliant young engineers taking part in this year’s first LEGO League!
Interpretation will be presented around the woodland, which will include information on the archaeological discoveries and how they informed the design.
You can read more about the project here: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/devon/...
@nationaltrust.org.uk
The final woodland design which was revised to incorporate important archaeological features in areas of open space
The density and design of the planting was adjusted to allow for the preservation of significant archaeological features within areas of open ground, but also to maintain and enhance key historic views to and from the Registered Park and Garden, and the listed building of Killerton House.
New discoveries of archaeological features were also made, including Bronze Age ring ditches (the ploughed-out remains of burial mounds), a sinuous historic watercourse (palaeochannel) and the remains of a wide array of past agricultural practices.
Greyscale results of the geophysical survey ©Magnitude Surveys
Geophysical survey was undertaken by Magnitude Surveys in 2024 to enhance existing knowledge, which included a potential Iron Age/Romano-British farmstead and former field systems. The survey confirmed the presence of the farmstead, along with a contemporary field system, and later field systems.
A plan of a woodland design showing different areas of planting and open ground
Today’s focus is the Columbjohn site, which was designed in a collaborative way to ensure important archaeological features and heritage elements were embedded.
Image: The initial design for the Columbjohn Community Forest ©National Trust/Rupert Lane
Newly planted trees in a field with tree guards and a wooden fence and an established woodland in the background
Continuing our theme of nature recovery and archaeology, we’re heading to the Killerton Estate in Devon to explore the Community Forest project, which has engaged local schools, college and community groups in planting trees across three locations: Columbjohn, Elbury and Beare farms.
These projects are driving landscape change at an accelerated rate and it is critical that archaeologists share and develop strategies for effecting positive landscape change which is informed by understanding of the historic environment.
You can listen here to the interviews here: bit.ly/4c9WInM
The project revealed the need for more resources for those working within nature recovery projects, including guidance, shared knowledge and case studies for working in particular environments.
Rose Ferraby, in her role as Postdoctoral Research Associate, recorded interviews with staff from National Trust properties and created a set of podcasts. There is one for each site, plus one featuring reflections from University of Exeter academics.
Tree and hedge planting at Wallington in Northumberland, which lost many trees in Storm Arwen. (Image: Rose Ferraby)
Four diverse National Trust sites carrying out different kinds of nature recovery work were chosen as case studies for the project – the Lake District, Divis (Northern Ireland), Killerton (Devon) and Wallington (Northumberland).
The project followed on from the Landscape Futures and the Challenge of Change project, which was jointly led by the National Trust, Historic England, the University of Exeter and University College London.
River restoration by the National Trust at Godrill Beck in the Lake District. (Image: Rose Ferraby)
In 2022 the University of Exeter and the National Trust developed the “Landscape Histories for Landscape Futures” project to explore how archaeology and understanding of past landscape change could inform the Trust’s planning for accelerated nature recovery on its properties. 🧵
