Land at Reeve Lodge, Trimley St Martin, Suffolk

Between the 15th March and the 26th March 2021, Oxford Archaeology East (OA East) conducted a programme of archaeological evaluation at Land at Reeve Lodge, Trimley St Martin, Suffolk (TM 27346 37178). A total of 46 30m long trenches were excavated within a proposed development area of c. 6.1ha of agricultural farmland to the south of the village and overlooking the River Orwell estuary to the southwest.
Evidence for a prehistoric trackway and field system – found along a northwest to southeast alignment across the site – was probably established during the Bronze Age. These results correspond with cropmarks recorded within the surrounding fields and show that they are an accurate representation of the archaeological remains present in the area. The archaeology recorded is also consistent with the results of nearby excavations to the northwest at Mushroom Farm and to the southeast at Walton.
Evidence was recovered for numerous alterations and reworkings of this field system, with several discrete areas of the site identified as having the potential to contain the remains of settlement. Occupation of the site appeared to continue into the Iron Age with the later Iron Age and Roman periods potentially seeing a hiatus in activity.
Subsequently, it appears that low level activity, predominantly agricultural in nature, resumed on site during the medieval period, with a new system of fields respecting the alignment of High Road which linked the villages of Trimley St Mary and Trimley St Martin.