Charles William Phillips (24 April 1901 – 23 September 1985) was a British

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

best known for leading the 1939 excavation of the

Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo is the site of two early medieval cemeteries dating from the 6th to 7th centuries near the English town of Woodbridge. Archaeologists have been excavating the area since 1938, when a previously undisturbed ship burial containing a ...

burial ship, an intact collection of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

grave-goods. In 1946 he replaced O G S Crawford as the Archaeology Officer of the

Ordnance Survey , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , logo = Ordnance Survey 2015 Logo.svg , logo_width = 240px , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = , picture_width = , picture_caption = , formed = , preceding1 = , di ...

. He was awarded the Victoria Medal of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

in 1967 for his contributions to the topography and mapping of Early Britain.

Early life and education

Charles Phillips was born on 24 April 1901, the son of Harold and Mary Elizabeth. His parents had met in London and were married on 14 October 1899. Harold Phillips had started to suffer from depression around 1893, and despite a number of "crises" during the short engagement, as Charles Phillips would later describe them, apparently no efforts were made to apprise his fiancée's family of his condition; nevertheless, none of her relatives showed up for the wedding. The couple had two sons and a daughter, with Charles being the oldest. Despite attempts at therapy, Harold Phillips killed himself on 30 January 1907. For about a year, Charles Phillips was sent to live with his mother's parents in

Ardington Ardington is a village and civil parish about east of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. Since 2012 responsibility for Ardington and the neighbouring ...

, after which he moved back in with his mother in

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

. There he attended Henley Grammar school, which he termed "a rather difficult time at the rather decayed" school; once his mother obtained a diploma in dairying from

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

and moved to tend to the dairy at

Arundel Castle Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established during the reign of Edward the Confessor and completed by Roger de Montgomery. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War a ...

, he lodged with an old friend of his father, visiting his family for the holidays. From 1909 to 1910 Phillips was educated at Littlehampton Commercial School, his tuition paid for by the

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

of which his father had been a member, and by their graces he was installed in the

Royal Masonic School for Boys The Royal Masonic School for Boys was an English independent school for boys at Bushey in Hertfordshire. History The origins of the school lie in the charities established in the late 18th century to clothe and educate the sons of Freemasons nea ...

Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow re ...

, Hertfordshire, in January 1911. Phillips was the only new boy assigned to his junior house. He characterised the headmaster of the other as a "sadist" who was forced out two years later due to a "scandal." His own time at the school lasted until 1919. This included a stint at

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...

at the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when a shortage of workers necessitated the use of older schoolboys to take in the harvest nearby. His time digging potatoes was short, for twenty-eight of the thirty schoolboys came down with diarrhoea. Phillips was not afflicted, and together with the other well schoolboy and an Army cook, spent days digging latrines. While home for the Christmas holiday that year, Phillips spent time exploring

Burgh Castle Burgh Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the east bank of the River Waveney, some west of Great Yarmouth and within the Norfolk Broads National Park. The parish was part of Suffolk until 1 ...

, collecting pieces of Romano-British pottery that were placed in the school library. On leaving school the following term, he was an awarded an

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

to study History at

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...

. He was awarded a

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

in part I of the

Tripos At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...

in 1921 and a second class (division one) in part II in 1922. He was also awarded a third class in Law in 1922.

Career

In the 1929/1930 academic year, Phillips became the librarian of Selwyn College. He was elected

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of Selwyn College in 1933, and taught the college's history students in addition to his librarian work. He temporarily stepped down as librarian in 1940 to serve in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He ended his librarianship in 1945, and resigned his fellowship in 1947. In 1945 or 1946, Phillips was chosen to succeed

O. G. S. Crawford Osbert Guy Stanhope Crawford (28 October 1886 – 28 November 1957) was a British archaeologist who specialised in the archaeology of prehistoric Britain and Sudan. A keen proponent of aerial archaeology, he spent most of his career as th ...

as archaeology officer of the

. He took up the appointment in early 1947, and retired in 1965.

Contribution to Lincolnshire archaeology

Phillips made an important contribution to the study of archaeology in Lincolnshire, a previously neglected county. This work was started in 1929 under the influence of O G S Crawford on behalf of the

and involved completing a record of all previous archaeological discoveries in the county, published in his two articles on ''The Present State of Archaeology in Lincolnshire.'' He also surveyed the

long barrows Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repres ...

of the county. This work culminated in his excavation of the Skendleby long barrow in the

Lincolnshire Wolds The Lincolnshire Wolds are a range of low hills in the county of Lincolnshire, England which run roughly parallel with the North Sea coast, from the Humber Estuary in the north-west to the edge of the Lincolnshire Fens in the south-east. They a ...

, which was published in 1936 in Archaeologia. Further research was published in ''Roman Fenland'' which he edited in 1970. Phillips (1970),''Roman Fenland'', Royal Geographical Society.

Sutton Hoo

Phillips was in charge of the excavation of the

ship-burial, widely considered the grave of the

king

Rædwald of East Anglia Rædwald ( ang, Rædwald, ; 'power in counsel'), also written as Raedwald or Redwald (), was a king of East Anglia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which included the present-day English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was the son of Tytila of East A ...

, from 10 July to 25 August 1939. Excavation of a large burial mound had begun in early May under the leadership of

Basil Brown Basil John Wait Brown (22 January 1888 – 12 March 1977) was an English archaeologist and astronomer. Self-taught, he discovered and excavated a 6th-century Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo in 1939, which has come to be called "one of th ...

, who the previous year had opened several smaller mounds nearby. On 11 May, the remainder of an iron ship rivet was found, and seven days later Guy Maynard, the then curator of

Ipswich Museum Ipswich Museum is a registered museum of culture, history and natural heritage located on High Street in Ipswich, the county town of Suffolk. It was historically the leading regional museum in Suffolk, housing collections drawn from both the fo ...

, was informed of the "indications of a large vessel" remaining in the soil. Phillips, then a fellow at Selwyn College and working on excavations at

Little Woodbury Little Woodbury is the name of an Iron Age archaeological site in Britford parish, near Salisbury in the English county of Wiltshire. The site lies about south of the centre of Salisbury and north of Odstock village. It was partially excavated ...

, was alerted to the discovery by Maynard; visiting the site on 6 June, Phillips said "it could be the ship of a King". Due to his experience with excavations, the Sutton Hoo ship-burial was put under his command. With the ship cleared but for the burial chamber, he arrived at Sutton Hoo on 8 July, and began work two days later.

Military service

During the

, Phillips served in the

in the Central Airphotographic Interpretation Unit and the Directorate of Military Survey. He was commissioned into the RAF as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

on probation on 26 May 1941. On 26 May 1942, his commission was confirmed and he was promoted to the

war substantive Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a m ...

rank of flying officer. He relinquished his commission in 1954, and was granted permission to retain the rank of

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

Awards and honours

He was awarded the Victoria Medal of the

in 1967 for his contributions to the topography and mapping of Early Britain. He was an elected

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

(FSA).

Personal life

On 3 July 1940, Phillips married

Margaret Mann Phillips Margaret Mann Phillips FRSL (1906–1987) was a British academic who specialized in Renaissance literature and history.

, an Erasmus scholar. Together, they had a son and a daughter.

In media

In the 2021 film '' The Dig'', which tells the story of the Sutton Hoo excavations, Phillips was played by actor

Ken Stott Kenneth Campbell Stott (born 19 October 1954) is a Scottish stage, television and film actor who won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1995 in the play '' Broken Glass'' at Royal National Theatre. He portrayed th ...

Publications

* * * * * * *

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Charles 1901 births 1985 deaths British archaeologists Victoria Medal recipients 20th-century archaeologists Fellows of Selwyn College, Cambridge Sutton Hoo