Excavation of Anglo-Saxon burial ship to be dramatised with star-studded cast

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Hoo’s this starring in a film about Britain’s biggest medieval discovery? Excavation of Anglo-Saxon burial ship to be dramatised with star-studded cast

  • New Netflix film about discovery of early medieval burial site at Sutton Hoo  
  • The star-studded movie ‘The Dig’ is set to be released on January 29
  • Features Lily James, Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes depicting events in 1939

By Jennifer Ruby Showbusiness News Editor For The Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

Dubbed Britain’s answer to Tutankhamun, the discovery of an early medieval burial site at Sutton Hoo caused a sensation in 1939.

Now the extraordinary events surrounding the excavation of an Anglo-Saxon ship and a wealth of artefacts in Suffolk is being dramatised in a film.

With a star-studded cast including Lily James, Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes, The Dig tells the story of widow Edith Pretty who employed an amateur archaeologist to investigate 18 mounds of soil on her land near Woodbridge.

Peggy Piggott played a large part in the excavation alongside her first husband Stuart

Lily James, 31, steps into the role of English archaeologist Peggy Piggott, who played a large part in the excavation alongside her first husband Stuart

The new film is star-studded, with cast members including Lily James, Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes

The Dig tells the story of widow Edith Pretty who employed an amateur archaeologist to investigate 18 mounds of soil on her land near Woodbridge

With a star-studded cast including Lily James, Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes (left, playing  Basil Brown, right), The Dig tells the story of widow Edith Pretty who employed an amateur archaeologist to investigate 18 mounds of soil on her land near Woodbridge

Miss Mulligan, 35, plays Mrs Pretty, who enlisted the help of selftaught, working-class archaeologist Basil Brown (Fiennes) to begin the dig just before the start of the Second World War.

Miss James, 31, steps into the role of Peggy Piggott, who played a large part in the excavation alongside her first husband Stuart. 

In the film, based on a 2007 historical novel by Mrs Piggott’s nephew John Preston and set to be released by Netflix on January 29, his aunt has a flirtation with Mrs Pretty’s nephew, Rory Lomax (Johnny Flynn).

Writing for the Daily Mail, Mr Preston said Miss James was ‘a joyously unlikely bit of movie casting’ as his aunt had been ‘a remarkably plain-looking woman’.

Carey Mulligan, 35, plays Mrs Pretty, who enlisted the help of selftaught, working-class archaeologist Basil Brown

Mrs Pretty enlisted the archaeologist to begin the dig just before the start of the Second World War.

Carey Mulligan, 35, plays Mrs Pretty, who enlisted the help of selftaught, working-class archaeologist Basil Brown (Fiennes) to begin the dig just before the start of the Second World War.

Mrs Pretty donated the entire find – including a king’s ornate iron helmet, pictured – to the nation and it went on display at the British Museum in 1951

Mrs Pretty donated the entire find – including a king’s ornate iron helmet, pictured – to the nation and it went on display at the British Museum in 1951

Sutton Hoo is regarded as one of the most important archaeological finds ever in the UK as it changed perceptions about the Anglo-Saxons, who had been thought to be culturally backwards.

Before her death in 1942, Mrs Pretty donated the entire find – including a king’s ornate iron helmet– to the nation and it went on display at the British Museum in 1951.

But Brown’s work went uncredited and he died aged 89 in 1977 a largely forgotten figure.