Monuments dating back as far as 3300 BC are located in the vicinity of the cemetery, which was discovered after aerial photography revealed the existence of an Iron Age rectangular enclosure.

An array of jewellery and other artefacts was found, including the jewels once worn by a young high-status Anglo-Saxon woman who had been buried on a bed and covered by an earth mound.

The vicinity of Street House Farm, located on Upton Hill to the north-east of the town of Loftus, has been known to archaeologists for some decades as an area of interest.

[1] In 1984, the archaeologist Blaise Vyner discovered the remains of an enigmatic structure that he dubbed the "Street House Wossit" (a contraction of "what-is-it").

In the centre of the structure, which was approximately 8 metres (26 ft) wide, were two D-shaped posts encircled by a raised stone bank.

[5] A more in-depth excavation was carried out in July 2005 after a geophysical survey revealed the existence of a large roundhouse, dating from the Iron Age, in the centre of the enclosure.

[5] Various artefacts dating to between 650 and 700 AD were excavated but no bones were recovered, as the acidic soil had destroyed any organic material long ago.

A total of 109 graves was found by the end of the 2007 dig,[6] forming a complex monument laid out in a unique square fashion around a central mound, a bed burial and a building that had possibly served as a mortuary.

[7] In 2012, a new excavation found the ruins of a sizeable Roman villa dating to around 370 AD, which had possibly been used by an important Romano-British chieftain.

A substantial number are too small for an adult of normal height to have been laid out in such a way and, judging from analogous Saxon graves found elsewhere in England, it is thought that these might have contained crouched burials.

[9] A smaller grubenhaus – a type of sunken building – which is thought to have been used as a mortuary chapel was located close by in the central area of the cemetery.

[5] It is thought that the mourners would have entered through the south side and assembled in the empty south-western area of the cemetery before proceeding to the shrine to carry out the burial rites.

[13] The discovery of such weapons as grave goods is extremely rare, as their value meant that they were typically passed on from father to son rather than being buried with a person.

[16] A very unusual discovery was made in grave 21 – the remnants of a necklace comprising eight beads and two Iron Age gold coins minted by the Corieltauvi tribe of modern Lincolnshire some time between 15–45 AD, before the Roman conquest of Britain.

Their excellent condition suggests that they had not been used for long, or at all, as currency; it is possible that they had been part of a hoard buried shortly after they were minted and were rediscovered during Saxon times.

Although it is small – only 27 millimetres (1.1 in) in diameter – it is intricately decorated with a gold filigree in the shape of figures of eight (though the similarity in form to the numeral is merely coincidental).

Grave 42 was a deep, wide pit in which a high-status individual was buried on top of a wooden bed with iron fittings.

The bed was made from ash wood, held together with a variety of iron plates, cleats, staples, nails, stays, and decorative scrolls.

Two pieces of ironwork showed signs of repair and reuse, suggesting that the bed had been in use some time before the burial and was not specially made for the interment.

By the 4th century, however, Christians had adopted the scallop as a symbol of rebirth through baptism and life as a journey towards a heavenly reunion with God.

[21] A grave found a short distance away also contained jewellery, including a gold pendant, silver brooch, and glass beads.

Until the early 7th century, the north-east of England and parts of Scotland were ruled by two Saxon kingdoms: Deira in modern Yorkshire, and Bernicia from north of the River Tees to the Firth of Forth.

[6] There were considerable connections – political, trading, and cultural – between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and this is demonstrated in the burial ground found at Street House.

[26] Several of the brooches and beads found in the graves are thought to have come from Kent[27] and some of the jewellery and beadwork has strong parallels with finds from East Anglia.

[21] The Iron Age gold coins found in one grave came from a tribe that lived in the East Midlands, which suggests that their owner, likewise, was not local.

There are examples of known Christians being buried in an ostensibly pagan fashion, as was the case for the late 7th century Kentish princess Eormengyth, sister of the abbess of Minster-in-Thanet.

"[30] The Culture Minister, Margaret Hodge, confirmed in a House of Commons debate that the British Museum would not object to Kirkleatham acquiring the finds.

[33] The finds were purchased by the museum in April 2009 and underwent conservation by specialists at Durham University and York Archaeological Trust.

Using tools of the Anglo-Saxon period, a replica of the bed was created for the exhibition by Richard Darrah, an expert in early woodwork,[34] and blacksmith Hector Cole, a crafter of medieval-style ironwork.

[36][37] Prior to the opening of the exhibition at Kirkleatham, the finds were put on display for five days in May 2011 at Loftus Town Hall, where they attracted nearly 1,700 visitors.