Editing Sutton Hoo (section)

==Position==
[[File:Wicklaw and Ipswich.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Wicklaw Hundreds|Wicklaw]] region]]

Sutton Hoo lies along a bank of the tidal [[estuary]] of the [[River Deben]]. There, large mounds – which were originally much higher and more visible – can still be seen, overlooking the upper estuary of the [[River Deben]].{{sfn|Newton|1993|p=44}} On the opposite bank the harbour town of [[Woodbridge, Suffolk|Woodbridge]] stands {{convert|7|mi}} from the [[North Sea]] and below the lowest convenient fording place.{{efn|A full description of the locality and environment has been produced by [[Rupert Bruce-Mitford]].{{sfn|Bruce-Mitford|1975|pp=1–98}} }} It formed a path of entry into East Anglia during the [[Sub Roman Britain]] period that followed the end of Roman imperial rule in the 5th century.{{sfn|West|1998|pp=261–275}}

South of Woodbridge, there are 6th-century burial grounds at [[Rushmere St Andrew|Rushmere]], [[Little Bealings]], and [[Tuddenham St Martin]]{{sfn|West|1998|pp=9–10, 92–93, 99}} and circling Brightwell Heath, the site of mounds that date from the [[Bronze Age]].{{sfn|West|1998|pp=12–13}} There are cemeteries of a similar date at [[Rendlesham]] and [[Ufford, Suffolk|Ufford]].{{sfn|West|1998|pp=91, 100–101}} A ship-burial at [[Snape boat grave|Snape]] is the only one in England that can be compared to the example at Sutton Hoo.{{sfn|Bruce-Mitford|1974|pp=114–140}}

The territory between the Orwell and the watersheds of the Alde and Deben rivers may have been an early centre of royal power, originally centred upon Rendlesham or Sutton Hoo, and a primary component in the formation of the East Anglian kingdom.{{efn|Archaeological studies of this region include the East Anglian Kingdom project and, since 1974, the Ipswich Excavation Project, undertaken for [[Suffolk County Council]] and spearheaded by Keith Wade.{{citation needed|date=July 2011}} }} In the early 7th century, Gipeswic (modern [[Ipswich]]) began its growth as a centre for foreign trade,{{sfn|Wade|2001}} [[Botolph]]'s monastery at [[Iken]] was founded by royal grant in 654,{{sfn|West|Scarfe|Cramp|1984}} and [[Bede]] identified Rendlesham as the site of [[Æthelwold of East Anglia|Æthelwold's]] royal dwelling.<ref>Bruce-Mitford 1974, 73–113; however Kingston near Woodbridge (nearly opposite Sutton Hoo) is "another possibility".</ref>