Basil Brown
Encyclopedia
Basil John Wait Brown was a farmer, archaeologist, amateur astronomer and author who most famously discovered the buried ship at Sutton Hoo
and excavated its sandy outline on the eve of war in 1939.
Although he has been described as an 'amateur archaeologist', his work as such was frequently paid. He was, indeed, one of the first to make a career as a paid excavation employee for a provincial museum. Although this was his second career and was interrupted by the War, it spanned more than thirty years. On the failure of his smallholding in c1932, at about the time when he published his work on Astronomical Atlases (a subject of interest since childhood), he began to investigate the countryside near his home in north Suffolk in search of Roman remains.
After the discovery, excavation and successful removal to Ipswich Museum
of a Roman kiln at Wattisfield
, Basil Brown worked for a short time with Mr Gale at Stuston
, on the Norfolk
-Suffolk border, before being taken on, on a near full-time basis, by Mr Guy Maynard, Curator of Ipswich Museum. He was paid weekly and worked for long seasons on the agreed payment arrangement from 1935–1939, his principal task being the excavation of a Roman villa
he had discovered at Stanton Chair, Suffolk. These excavations were laid open each year and temporary museums were set up on the site for visitors. Many well-known archaeologists, while still students, worked for Mr Brown on seasonal visits to the site.
. In these months he excavated three disturbed burials or cremation burials of the sixth or early seventh centuries which had been plundered of most of their contents. One had apparently contained a wooden ship held together with iron rivets, though their positions did not permit a reconstruction of the ship. It was soon realised that the site was either of Anglo-Saxon
or Viking age
, but that question was not decided either by Mr Brown or the Ipswich Museum authorities (who maintained supervision of his work) during the first season. At the end of this work, Mr Brown returned immediately to his work for the Museum, at Stanton Chair.
In Spring 1939 Mr Brown returned to the employment of Mrs Pretty for a second season at Sutton Hoo, and made the wonderful discovery of the 27 meter-long ship impression in the sandy soil beneath the largest mound. In June the site was visited by Charles Phillips
, who some weeks later began his campaign to clear the undisturbed but crushed burial chamber of an Anglo-Saxon potentate of the early seventh century AD (thought by many to be the grave of Raedwald of East Anglia
). Charles Phillips was employed by the Office of Works, and led a team including W.F. Grimes, O.G.S. Crawford, Stuart
and Peggy Piggot, and assisted by many other famous academics and archaeologists who were admitted to the site while the story was kept secret from the general public.
Basil Brown maintained a respectful relationship with Mrs Pretty, and completed his work for her by remaining until the very end, after the experts had finished with his discovery, and carrying out her instructions. He was obliged to steer a careful path among the scholars and other authorities, for there were differences between Phillips and the Ipswich Museum representatives. Mr Brown gave his witness at the treasure trove
inquest in September 1939, when (after a newspaper leak) the astonishing treasures were first seen by the general public in attendance. He worked again at Stanton Chair for short periods late in 1939 and during 1940.
of Suffolk, the basis of the record as it exists today. He encouraged groups of children to work on his sites, and introduced a whole generation of youngsters to the processes of archaeology and the fascination of what lay under the ploughed fields of the county.
Much has been said or written of the collision of social classes which took place at Sutton Hoo in 1939, and their impact on the relationships of the excavators. Mr Brown was descended from a long line of yeoman farmers of Suffolk. The recipient of a country education, and self-taught in astronomy and in several European languages, although he possessed a broad East Anglian accent, his powers of observation and deduction, and his good sense and wise conduct, generally earned him the respect of discerning authorities.
Basil Brown made an immense contribution to the development of Suffolk archaeology, and was deservedly proud of the wonderful discovery of 1939 which he had been lucky enough to make.
Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
and excavated its sandy outline on the eve of war in 1939.
Although he has been described as an 'amateur archaeologist', his work as such was frequently paid. He was, indeed, one of the first to make a career as a paid excavation employee for a provincial museum. Although this was his second career and was interrupted by the War, it spanned more than thirty years. On the failure of his smallholding in c1932, at about the time when he published his work on Astronomical Atlases (a subject of interest since childhood), he began to investigate the countryside near his home in north Suffolk in search of Roman remains.
After the discovery, excavation and successful removal to Ipswich Museum
Ipswich Museum
Ipswich Museum is a registered museum of culture, history and natural heritage located on High Street in Ipswich, the County Town of the English county of Suffolk...
of a Roman kiln at Wattisfield
Wattisfield
Wattisfield is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located on the A143 around seven miles south-west of Diss, in 2005 its population was 440....
, Basil Brown worked for a short time with Mr Gale at Stuston
Stuston
Stuston is a small village in the county of Suffolk, England close to the border with Norfolk, England. Its postal town is Diss, Norfolk, England....
, on the Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
-Suffolk border, before being taken on, on a near full-time basis, by Mr Guy Maynard, Curator of Ipswich Museum. He was paid weekly and worked for long seasons on the agreed payment arrangement from 1935–1939, his principal task being the excavation of a Roman villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
he had discovered at Stanton Chair, Suffolk. These excavations were laid open each year and temporary museums were set up on the site for visitors. Many well-known archaeologists, while still students, worked for Mr Brown on seasonal visits to the site.
Excavations at Sutton Hoo
In 1938 Basil Brown was by agreement released from his employment by Ipswich Museum for a season during which he was paid by Mrs Edith May Pretty to excavate three of the mounds on her estate at Sutton Hoo near WoodbridgeWoodbridge, Suffolk
Woodbridge is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. It is in the East of England, not far from the coast. It lies along the River Deben, with a population of about 7,480. The town is served by Woodbridge railway station on the Ipswich-Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Woodbridge is twinned with...
. In these months he excavated three disturbed burials or cremation burials of the sixth or early seventh centuries which had been plundered of most of their contents. One had apparently contained a wooden ship held together with iron rivets, though their positions did not permit a reconstruction of the ship. It was soon realised that the site was either of Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
or Viking age
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
, but that question was not decided either by Mr Brown or the Ipswich Museum authorities (who maintained supervision of his work) during the first season. At the end of this work, Mr Brown returned immediately to his work for the Museum, at Stanton Chair.
In Spring 1939 Mr Brown returned to the employment of Mrs Pretty for a second season at Sutton Hoo, and made the wonderful discovery of the 27 meter-long ship impression in the sandy soil beneath the largest mound. In June the site was visited by Charles Phillips
Charles Phillips (archaeologist)
Charles William Phillips was a British archaeologist best known for leading the 1939 excavation of the Sutton Hoo burial ship, an intact collection of Anglo-Saxon grave-goods, possibly that of the 7th century East Anglian king Raedwald.He was the spouse of Margaret Mann Phillips the Erasmus...
, who some weeks later began his campaign to clear the undisturbed but crushed burial chamber of an Anglo-Saxon potentate of the early seventh century AD (thought by many to be the grave of Raedwald of East Anglia
Raedwald of East Anglia
Rædwald ; also Raedwald or Redwald, was a 7th century king of East Anglia, a long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the son of Tytila of East Anglia and a member of the Wuffingas dynasty , who were the first rulers of the East Angles...
). Charles Phillips was employed by the Office of Works, and led a team including W.F. Grimes, O.G.S. Crawford, Stuart
Stuart Piggott
Stuart Ernest Piggott CBE was a British archaeologist best known for his work on prehistoric Wessex.Born in Petersfield, Hampshire, Piggott was educated at Churcher's College and on leaving school in 1927 took up a post as assistant at Reading Museum where he developed an expertise in Neolithic...
and Peggy Piggot, and assisted by many other famous academics and archaeologists who were admitted to the site while the story was kept secret from the general public.
Basil Brown maintained a respectful relationship with Mrs Pretty, and completed his work for her by remaining until the very end, after the experts had finished with his discovery, and carrying out her instructions. He was obliged to steer a careful path among the scholars and other authorities, for there were differences between Phillips and the Ipswich Museum representatives. Mr Brown gave his witness at the treasure trove
Treasure trove
A treasure trove may broadly be defined as an amount of money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion found hidden underground or in places such as cellars or attics, where the treasure seems old enough for it to be presumed that the true owner is dead and the heirs undiscoverable...
inquest in September 1939, when (after a newspaper leak) the astonishing treasures were first seen by the general public in attendance. He worked again at Stanton Chair for short periods late in 1939 and during 1940.
After Sutton Hoo
During the war Basil Brown performed a few archaeological tasks for the Museum, but was principally engaged in other forms of War work in Suffolk. Afterwards he was again employed by the Museum, nominally as an 'attendant', but with archaeological, external duties. Until the 1960s he steadily continued the systematic study of archaeological remains in Suffolk, cycling everywhere, and preparing an extremely copious (if sometimes indecipherable) record of information pertaining to it. Out of this was developed the County Sites and Monuments RecordSites and Monuments Record
Each County or Unitary Authority in the United Kingdom maintains a Sites and Monuments Record or SMR, consisting of a list of known archaeological sites. Many SMRs are now developing into much broader Historic Environment Records , including information on historic buildings and designed landscapes...
of Suffolk, the basis of the record as it exists today. He encouraged groups of children to work on his sites, and introduced a whole generation of youngsters to the processes of archaeology and the fascination of what lay under the ploughed fields of the county.
Much has been said or written of the collision of social classes which took place at Sutton Hoo in 1939, and their impact on the relationships of the excavators. Mr Brown was descended from a long line of yeoman farmers of Suffolk. The recipient of a country education, and self-taught in astronomy and in several European languages, although he possessed a broad East Anglian accent, his powers of observation and deduction, and his good sense and wise conduct, generally earned him the respect of discerning authorities.
Basil Brown made an immense contribution to the development of Suffolk archaeology, and was deservedly proud of the wonderful discovery of 1939 which he had been lucky enough to make.
Sources
The story of the Sutton Hoo excavation and Brown's part in it has been told in various ways:- Basil Brown's Diaries - reprinted in R.L.S. Bruce-Mitford, 1974, Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Archaeology (Gollancz, London), 141-169.
- Full descriptive and interpretative catalogue and monograph - R.L.S. Bruce-Mitford, 1975, 1978, 1983, The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial (London, British Museum), 3 Vols in 4.
- Searching account of the excavation and discovery - A.C. Evans, 1986, The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial (London: British Museum).
- C. Green, 1963, Sutton Hoo: The Excavation of a Royal Ship-Burial (London).
- R.A.D. Markham, 2002, Sutton Hoo through the Rear View Mirror (Sutton Hoo Society) - a careful account of the discovery and controversy, drawing only upon reliably verified evidence from contemporary records and sources.
- Pepe Barlow, 'The Sutton Hoo Mob' - a play with music, written for the Eastern Angles Theatre Company and toured in Suffolk in 1993 and again in 2005, based specifically on the central characters of the controversy.
- C.W. Phillips, 1987, My Life in Archaeology, p70ff.
- The National Trust Visitor Centre, Sutton Hoo, Exhibition Hall.(2001)
- S.J. Plunkett, 'Basil John Wait Brown', article in Oxford DNB.
- J. Preston, 2007, The DigThe Dig (novel)The Dig is a novel by John Preston, published May 2007, set in the context of the 1939 Anglo-Saxon ship burial excavation at Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England. The novel has been widely reviewed as ‘an account of the excavation at Sutton Hoo in 1939’...
(Viking) - a novel dramatizing the events. - C J Durrant, 2005 'Basil Brown, Astronomer, Archaeologist, Enigma' - a biography