 The royal seat of Rendlesham, specified by Bede, seals the evident importance of the Deben estuary headwaters as a centre of royal power, demonstrated for an earlier period by the royal cemetery of Sutton Hoo.Rendlesham, a short distance from Iken, the site of Botolph's monastery, stands at a strategic point between the rivers Deben and Alde at the headwaters of the Butley estuary, which intersects the peninsula between the two major rivers.The dedication of Rendlesham's church to St Gregory suggests its early, perhaps primary connection with the royal dwelling mentioned by Bede.