Sutton Hoo: Money available to develop historic Anglo-Saxon site

The remaining fragments of the Sutton Hoo warrior's helmet are on display at the British Museum in London

Money has been made available to develop a historic Anglo-Saxon ship burial site so visitors can retrace a royal funeral procession.

It is believed Sutton Hoo in Suffolk was the final resting place for King Raedwald of East Anglia in the 7th Century.

It is thought the ship was hauled to the site from the nearby River Deben.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is providing a grant of £150,000 for the first stages of the project.

The burial ship was found in one mound at Sutton Hoo, while other mounds contained other items including a horse

The burial site near Woodbridge was rediscovered in 1939 and among the many finds were the buried boat which contained the remains of a warrior's helmet, which is kept in the British Museum.

The National Trust is proposing a £2.4m project to "release the full potential of the dramatic landscape", which would also include a new raised viewing platform so that visitors can get a better view of the mounds and the surrounding area.

A 40ft (12m) high temporary visitor platform was erected in the summer showing the view from the burial site to the River Deben and Woodbridge

The Sutton Hoo site already includes footpaths which take visitors from the burial site down into the River Deben valley

The river is about half a mile away down the valley from the burial site.

Luke Potter, east Suffolk general manager for the National Trust, said: "This special place is about so much more than the treasure; it tells the hugely significant story of how the first English people lived their lives.

"Their significance continues to resonate down the centuries in our language, our craft traditions and our connections to land and landscape.

"The project aims to release the power and magical inspiration of Sutton Hoo's history by untapping the human stories that reside within its landscape."