The Real Basil Brown.
By Sarah Doig.
Not many people had heard of Basil Brown until the film “The Dig” starring Ralph Fiennes was released. This was a fairly accurate representation of the story of the discovery of the Sutton Hoo treasure but Basil Brown was much more than just an amateur archaeologist famous for one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century.
Basil kept detailed diaries and notebooks throughout his life and about 100 of these still survive. He also typed weekly reports for the Ipswich Museum and all these records allow us to understand more about his life and work.
Basil was born in 1888, the only child of a wheelwright and his wife Charlotte. He went to the local school and he remembered hating history. His first great interest was astronomy and he would publish a book on this subject later in life.
He would have been described as working class and although he continued his education by attending evening classes, he had to earn his living by working on a farm.
During the First World War he was declared medically unfit but he enrolled in the army’s medical corp. He married his wife Dorothy May in 1923 but decided against pursuing farming as a career. Instead he offered his services as an odd job man and moved into the old School House.
He then began excavating a variety of sites including a moated Manor estate and in 1934 he carried out a systematic investigation of Rickinghall in the woods known as Cork Woods. It was here he discovered 11 Roman kilns. It was at about this time he met Guy Maynard who employed him as a casual archaeologist. This eventually led to Basil Brown meeting Mrs Edith Pretty and making the momentous discovery of Sutton Hoo in the summers of 1938 and 39.
Basil Brown continued recording many more finds including an Anglo Saxon village at West Stow and 2 kilns at Caulfield. Basil continued his interest in astronomy and was an accurate weather forecaster as well as attending Spiritualist meetings.
When acquaintances were asked to recall memories of Basil Brown they would describe him as friendly, unassuming and always making time for children. Some said they never knew anyone who could ride a bicycle so slowly without falling off and others recalled the flat cap and the clacking of his false teeth.
Basil died on the 12th March 1977. J Mitford from the British Museum wrote “Your work does you great credit and will be remembered.” There is now a blue plaque on his home to commemorate his great achievements.
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