GIPPING RAISE ‘BURIAL CHAMBER’

Extracts from East Anglian Daily Times 23rd March 2011

Gipping contract manager Julian Davies, said “It is a very exciting project and very unusual. We predominantly deal with new build but we were only too happy to respond to the challenge”.



Sutton Hoo, which is owned by the National Trust, is the site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of the 6th and early 7th centuries. One contained the undisturbed burial ship including a wealth of artefacts of outstanding historical and archaeological significance. Previously, visitors to Sutton Hoo have had to look from afar at the Anglo-Saxon King Raedwald’s final resting place. But now the life-size replica burial ship chamber has been raised to floor level so that people can step inside. Builders from Gipping Construction were on site lifting the large wooden structure using hydraulic jacks. The chamber will be accessible to visitors for the first time. As part of the new experience people will not only be able to walk through the royal burial chamber to pay homage to the king they will also be able to experience the sounds and smells of the past