Excavations in the English town of Rendlesham by archaeologists from the Suffolk County Council have confirmed its status as an important Anglo-Saxon royal center between the sixth and eighth centuries A.D. The site is located near the princely burials of Sutton Hoo and is mentioned in the Venerable Bede’s eighth-century A.D. Ecclesiastical History of the English People as a residence of East Anglian kings. The recent discovery of a monumental hall and royal compound has convinced archaeologists that Rendlesham was indeed a seat of early Angle kings, and may have been the largest and wealthiest settlement in England at the time.

The timber hall measures 75 feet long and 33 feet wide. It would have been used by rulers for feasting, administering justice, entertaining diplomatic envoys, and distributing gifts. The team also discovered an unusually tall and robust structure that they believe may have been an early pre-Christian temple or cult house. The two buildings were part of a 37-acre royal compound surrounded by a nearly mile-long ditch. The East Anglian kings controlled parts of what are today Suffolk and Norfolk and frequently traveled through their territories with their retinue, periodically stopping at various sites, including Rendlesham.

To read the original article about archaeological investigations at Rendlesham, go to “The Ongoing Saga of Sutton Hoo.”