Built / Designed For: John Chadwick Lomax
House & Family History: Edith May Pretty and her husband, Frank Pretty, purchased the Sutton Hoo Estate in 1926. Edith, whose husband died in 1934, was the subject of the 2021 movie, “The Dig.” She was responsible for hiring local archaeologist Basil Brown in 1938 to discover if anything lay beneath the mounds on her property, and the rest is history. After Edith died in 1942, the House passed to her only son, Robert Pretty, who never lived here. During World War II the War Office took over ownership and turned the House into a home for the Women's Land Army (WLA), commonly known as the Land Girls. After the war ended the government sold the Sutton Hoo Estate back into private ownership. After the death in 1998 of its last owner, Annie Tranmer, her trustees donated the House and the 255-acre Estate to the National Trust, who renamed the House in her honor.
Garden & Outbuildings: Called England's Valley of the Kings, Sutton Hoo, which archaeologists have been excavating almost continuously since 1939, is the richest burial ever found in northern Europe. The site has been extremely important in establishing the history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia in the 6th and 7th centuries. Probably the grave of Rædwald, King of East Anglia, the site is most famous for the Anglo-Saxon ship found in the King's Mound.
House Listed: Not Listed
Park Listed: Scheduled Ancient Monument
Past Seat / Home of: John Chadwick Lomax, 1910-26. Lt. Colonel Frank and Edith Pretty, 1926-42. Barton family, mid-20th century. Annie Tranmer, until 1998.
Current Ownership Type: The National Trust
Primary Current Ownership Use: Visitor Attraction
House Open to Public: Yes
Phone: 01394-389-700
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Historic Houses Member: No