Tim Hobrough designed this lyre to be unadorned, affordable and easy to use. This lyre is based on the the late-sixth-century or early-seventh-century lyre fragments found in the Sutton Hoo ship burial, Suffolk, England with the missing details supplied from several other archeological sources. 


Quite a few years ago, Tim and Alice made several of this model for the Early Music Shop and kept a few extra sets of parts for their own use. Since this is an older design, certain aspects of this reconstruction do not benefit from details of lyre construction revealed by more recent archeological finds. 

At the moment, the only standard-model lyre that Carved Strings offers is Tim Hobrough’s “Sutton Hoo” design, described below. These are available in limited numbers.

Alice hopes to have time to work on some other lyre reconstruction later this year (including a fully-decorated Trossinger lyre). 


Please feel free to contact us if you are looking for a reconstruction of a specific lyre.

“Sutton Hoo” long lyre                            (Hobrough design)

The sides and back of the instrument are hollowed-out from a solid piece of European ash. Following the example of the Sutton Hoo lyre fragments, the yoke is constructed from a separate piece of similar wood. The soundboard has a lengthwise joint down the center which reduces cost but is historically questionable. The last few of this design the body and yoke made of have European ash and soundboards made from European maple. The tuning pegs, bridges and tailpieces could be either maple or cherry. The soundboard is glued to the body and secured with small wooden pins (trenails). limited supply, while stocks last Prices from $———— (please contact for current pricing) with synthetic strings* (add shipping and tax, if applicable) *please also ask for a price quote if you would prefer gut strings
Lyres