The second season of archaeological excavations at Rendlesham took place throughout August and September 2022. This time the area under investigation revealed evidence of a major timber hall and settlement activity - this confirms that this site is the royal residence as recorded in the writings of The Venerable Bede of the 8th century. The Hall, 23m long and 10m wide, is part of a royal compound covering an area of six hectares, set within a larger settlement of over 50 hectares. For 150 years between AD 570 and AD 720 this was the centre from which a major province of the East Anglian kingdom, focused on the valley of the River Deben, was ruled. Over 250 volunteers from the local community were involved, including young adults from the Suffolk Family Carers and Suffolk Mind, and local school children from Rendlesham, Eyke and Wickham Market primary schools
The post-excavation work is now underway, processing all the material and quantifying the artefacts for specialist analysis.
The excavations are now finished and the trenches have been back filled. Please note that the site is on private land with no public access.
The Excavations 2022 in Pictures
Use the arrows to scroll through the slideshow or view the whole album on flikr.com
Week-by-Week Discoveries
Check out the articles below for the new discoveries as the excavations took place each week.
Week 1 (2022) - Returning to Rendlesham
During the first week, we have been setting up the site, getting the facilities delivered and opening up the trenches.
Read the week 1 article on our blog »
Week 2 (2022) - The Excavations at Rendlesham
During week 2 of the excavations, we welcomed our first set of volunteers who have been cleaning the trenches and started excavating some of the archaeological features.
Read the week 2 article on our blog »
Week 3 (2022) - The Excavations at Rendlesham
During week 3 of the excavations, our volunteers made a start on excavating the remains of the large timber hall.
Read the week 3 article on our blog »
Week 4 (2022) - The Excavations at Rendlesham
In week 4, our volunteers included 8 young people from Suffolk Family Carers, aged 12-16. They worked hard to continue excavating the archaeological features.
Read the week 4 article on our blog »
Young Carers reflect on Archaeology Dig Experience
The volunteers from Suffolk Family Carers had such a great time on their residential trip to Rendlesham they have written their own blog and the young people filmed a video about their experience. Their blog is available at suffolkfamilycarers.org »
Filmed by Suffolk Family Carers August 2022
Week 5 (2022) - The Excavations at Rendlesham
Week 5 of the excavations has been busy, with volunteers continuing to excavate post holes and the rubbish dump with support from Cotswold Archaeology. We were also joined on site by our experienced volunteer metal detectorist and a group of volunteers started a geophysical survey on a nearby field.
Read the week 5 article on our blog »
Week 6 (2022) - The Excavations at Rendlesham
Week 6 was a busy one and our volunteers included local school children and a third group of volunteers from Suffolk Mind, as well as members of the general public. Everyone worked together with much enthusiasm to continue to excavate and record the archaeology.
Read the week 6 article on our blog »
Volunteers from Suffolk Mind describe how being a part of the excavations has positively impacted their metal health.Read the Suffolk Mind article on our blog »
Week 7 (2022) - The Final Week at Rendlesham
During the seventh and final week of the Rendlesham Revealed excavations the volunteers finished digging and recording the archaeology before cleaning it for final photographs. We also continued processing the finds and completing the fieldwalking. We were also joined by 54 children to site from the Year 3 and 4 classes of Wickham Market and Eyke Primary Schools.
Read the week 7 article on our blog »
