Okay, welcome to the British History Podcast. My name is Jamie, and this is episode 128,

Sutton Who, the Finding of Raidwold, and Rabbits. Maybe. Well, we're definitely gonna

find Rabbits, but I don't know about Raidwold. So, Raidwold, King of East Anglia, Brett

Walda. When he's mentioned, if you've heard that name before this show, chances are you

heard it in connection with Sutton Who, which is possibly his burial site. And Sutton

Who is one of the most famous archaeological digs in Britain. Just the name conjures up

images of the great Anglo-Saxon helmet, with its impressive faceplate and ornate decorations

and bronze, iron, and tin. But there's so much more to it than that. And today, we're

gonna talk about some of what makes Sutton Who so special.

Our story begins in the late 16th century, when Tomb Raiders came across the mounds

at Sutton Who, and dug a shaft straight down into mound one. They were over ten feet

down into the mound and only inches above the burial chamber. But for some reason, it

looks like they stopped and lit a fire. And at that point, it's assumed that the shaft

collapsed, and the ransacking of the mound ended, leaving the chamber intact. These

digs are often connected to Queen Elizabeth's astrologer and alchemist, Dr. John D, who

might have been given a commission to go find buried treasure in East Anglia. But the

reality is that there's no evidence for D actually conducting the digs, and all of this

might have just been a coincidence. But the point is, based upon the archaeological evidence

in the late 16th century, someone was digging around in Sutton Who. And not without reason,

the River Devon, which is right next to Sutton Who, was probably part of a major trading

network during the early Anglo-Saxon period, and settlements would have popped up all along

it. While most of them would have been farming communities in the like, there were probably

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