The story of the Great Ship Burial of Sutton Hoo is an integral part of England's national heritage
and without the vision of landowner and patron of the sciences, Edith Pretty,
the monumental discovery of a ship containing the treasure of a king who was probably the last
of the pagan rulers of East Anglia would have remained hidden beneath the earth.
A recent Netflix movie released in January 2021 called, The Dig, based upon a novel of the same
name, tells the story of the excavation and the woman who both spurred the discovery
by using her own funds to commission amateur archaeologist Basil Brown from Ipswich Museum
to start digging on her land looking for the graves of ancient warriors.
Edith Pretty's real-life story is, in itself,
a dramatic tale of a woman who was ahead of her time in the many facets of her life including
exposure to scientific methods and archaeological digs from an early age to her interest in the
male-directed field of archeology along with a dash of spiritualism acquired later in life.
In this video I cover the life history of Edith Pretty and how her thirst for knowledge,
and her spirit of adventure, led to a triumphant life resulting in one of the
most magnificent archaeological finds in England.
Stay to the end to find out what is true in the Netflix movie
and what is not true. Or use the timestamps in the description to get there faster.
So who was Edith Pretty?
First let me say that a lot of information about Edith Pretty and photos of the real
Edith Pretty and her family, can be found at this blog by a descendant of her family.
I left a link below in the description, so you can see actual photos of, the real Edith Pretty.
Edith May Pretty was born of Scottish descent on August 1, 1883, in Elland, Yorkshire,England.
Her family had reaped the rewards of the Industrial Revolution and were
able to bring her and her sister up in wealth and higher education.
Edith's upbringing fit the norm of well-to-do women in Edwardian society
of the early 1900's England. She was well-educated, articulate, public spirited
and provided the advantages to develop an interest in science and archeology from an early age.
Edith was the second child of Robert and
Elizabeth Dempster of Manchester, England. She attended the boarding school known as Roedean
School of Brighton, East Sussex, England. She also attended a finishing school in Paris.
Edith was first exposed to the world of science
by her wealthy Grandfather who dappled in the study of astronomy and later by her father.
Her father was a strong believer in the educational importance of international travel.
Each year, as a girl, she and her sister Elizabeth went to the continent with
their parents visiting Pompeii, the Egyptian pyramids, tombs and the monuments at Luxor.
In Egypt, she saw some of the excavations take place in the
Nile Valley done by a family friend who was an Egyptologist on the dig.
An understanding of excavation methods was built upon when her father undertook his own
excavation of a Cistercian Abbey church that adjoined their house at Vale Royal.
As she grew into a woman at the turn of the century,Edith did a great deal of public and
charity work. She became quartermaster of the local Red Cross military hospital
shortly after the start of world war one in 1914 and ran a house as a shelter
for a number of Belgian refugees. And, in 1917, she served with the French Red Cross.
However her life was by no means completely dedicated to civic service.
Edith was athletic and a keen horsewoman,
and as a young woman, she would go hunting and fishing with her family, at their country home.
Always eager to do something different,in her forties Edith went on a pony trek across Iceland.
Long days in the saddle on rugged terrain while living under highly
primitive circumstances was never a hardship for Edith.
While Edith lived during the time that women where brought up as socialites and taught to seek out
marriage at an early age, Edith chose not to marry until she was 42. In 1926, a year after her father
died, she married Colonel Frank Pretty, who had first proposed the her when she was eighteen.
With the money from her father's estate, Mrs. Pretty purchased the house and 400
acre estate known as Sutton Hoo. It was a windy heathland, that included 18 low earth
mounds considered to be burial mounds. And this is where the movie, The Dig, takes off.
In the movie, Frank Pretty has died and it is 4 years later. After wondering,
all those years prior, what treasures might be found in the mounds, Edith took action and
hired amateur archeologist Basil Brown to begin an investigation into its possible contents.
Setting aside the fact that there was no real romance, as suggested in the movie,between Mrs.
Pretty and Basil Brown, (although they did become good friends), Edith, with her prior knowledge
of archaeology, was clear that she wanted the work to proceed in proper scientific fashion.
The movie might portray that Edith wanted to be known for the unearthing of the 88 foot burial
ship from the Seventh Century and the other valuable artifacts from a Saxon Royal burial,
history tells us that this was not exactly true to her nature.
When Edith donated the treasure to the British Museum,
Prime Minister Winston Churchill wanted to make her a Commander of the Order of the
British Empire for her contribution to archeology, but she declined.
Edith Pretty was a private person, and, as shown in the movie, she did not welcome the attention
that the excavation got after Ipswich Museum curator Guy Maynard gave the story to the press
resulting in a hoard of journalist and planes flying over to get photos. It is said that
on several occasions, she threatened to shut down the dig entirely.
A good part of the drama in the movie, The Dig, centers around the immense importance
of the burial ship and the treasure trove found in the mounds. It is true that there
were many people wanting to claim credit for the discovery and take control of the excavations.
And it is true that there was an inquest that determined Edith was,
without question, the owner of the treasure trove and it was hers to do with as she wished.
Not only did Edith donate the treasures to the British Museum
so that the meaning and excitement of her discovery could be shared by everyone, she
also paid of out pocket for the expense of Basil Brown's work on the dig as well as paying for
security to guard the excavation site from looters once the discovery had been exposed to the public.
As for her foray into spiritualism, Edith Pretty did befriend a faith healer named William Parish
when her husband fell ill before his death. It is said that Edith funded the
construction of a chapel for Parish and that she supported the Wood bridge Spiritualist Church.
According to the history versus Hollywood website,
it was only a rumor that either Edith or a friend of hers had dreams and visions of
soldiers walking around with swords and spears atop the mounds on her property.
One more thing to clarify is that Mrs.Pretty was 55 years old when
excavations began at Sutton Hoo. While, in the movie, she appears to be much younger.
She was certainly ill by the time of the dig and had only a few more years to live.
Edith Pretty died from a stroke, December 17th, 1942, at the age of 59.
There is no doubt that Edith Pretty was an extraordinary woman
who was ahead of her time and that England, and the world,
will be forever grateful for her contributions to the science of archeology.
Thank you for watching and please like,share and subscribe.