Wherever you walk in Britain, beneath your feet there may lurk remnants of a long-vanished civilisation. History buff Dixe Wills goes on a tour of his favourite discoveries.
Britain's best archaeological finds
Sutton Hoo, Suffolk
Situated on a picturesque bend of the River Deben, Sutton Hoo’s treasures were discovered in 1939 after Edith Pretty commissioned a dig of the extensive grounds of her home. The site provided an archaeological double whammy – it was not only the location of a royal cemetery from the early Middle Ages, but also of the ship burial of 7th-century Anglo-Saxon King Rædwald and his famous Sutton Hoo helmet (now on display at the British Museum).
Galloway Hoard, Kirkcudbrightshire
When the metal detector held by Derek McLennan bleeped one day in September 2014, he couldn’t have known that he was about to unearth Britain’s most remarkable Viking hoard. More than 100 artefacts were eventually dug up, many intricately made of gold, silver, glass or crystal, some still wrapped in silk, and some even bearing their owner’s name. A good many of the finds – which included armbands, ingots, brooches and a Christian cross – are exceptionally rare or indeed unique. The hoard is now in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Mary Anning's ichthyosaur, Dorset
The discovery by fossil-hunter Mary Anning (1799–1847) of a complete ichthyosaur in cliffs near Lyme Regis caused a sensation. No fossilised reptile as large had been found before and it caused a major rethink among palaeontologists about the age of the planet and what the prehistoric world was like. Today, you can see her 195-million-year-old Ichthyosaurus anningae at the Museum of Natural History in Oxford.
- Walking in the footsteps of Mary Anning
- Best places to go fossil hunting in the UK: these are the best spots to unearth prehistoric gems
Mary Rose, The Solent
The Mary Rose was Henry VIII’s favourite ship. The vessel sank off the Isle of Wight during a battle in 1545 when poor captaincy allowed seawater to pour in through her open gun ports. Her location on the seabed was pinpointed in 1971 and she was raised 11 years later. The 26,000 artefacts found comprise the world’s largest collection of Tudor objects: see them at the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard.
Skara Brae, Orkney
A UNESCO World Heritage Site – and older even than Stonehenge – this coastal Neolithic settlement is the finest example of its kind in Western Europe and so well preserved it has been called the Scottish Pompeii. Unearthed by a violent storm in 1850, it gives an astonishing insight into the lives of our forebears five millennia ago. Wander the village to see inside their homes, some complete with stone box-beds, seats and dressers.
Vindolanda, Northumberland
A mile from Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland, Vindolanda is considered one of Europe’s most enthralling Roman digs. It comprises nine forts, each built on top of the previous one, and has thrown up gems such as the Vindolanda tablets, one of Britain’s oldest surviving handwritten documents. In 2017, thousands of objects were unearthed in a barracks beneath the site. Fresh excavations take place every year.
More UK history
- Built by a paranoid Henry VIII, these two clifftop forts in Falmouth tell a thrilling tale of Tudor tensions
- These groundbreaking Historic England projects have revealed fascinating details about Britain’s past
- Huge Napoleonic prisoner of war camp buried under Cambridgeshire field to open to public
- This Roman massacre is a myth, say scientists. Here's what actually happened
