Monument record TYN 173 - OUTLINE RECORD: Bronze Age enclosures, Neolithic/Bronze age pits, Iron Age features adjacent to Reeve Lodge Trimley St Martin (SGL) GEO (OA) EVAL

Excavation uncovered an extensive complex of rectilinear Middle Bronze Age enclosures, interpreted as corrals and paddocks for livestock. These enclosures were largely defined by double ditches, whose intermittent circuits resulted in entranceways at their corners. The double ditches also defined possible trackways/routes along the limits of the enclosures, to provide access for livestock. Two large ring gullies — possibly animal shelters — were revealed within the enclosures. Smaller ring gullies might represent shelters for shepherds/cowherds or possibly hayricks. Interestingly, an assemblage of saltmaking briquetage was recovered, including diagnostic fragments of pans/containers. The Middle Bronze Age enclosures appeared to have fallen out of use prior to the establishment of a ditched trackway and associated field boundaries in the Late Iron Age. A small number of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age pits were also encountered (S1).

Evaluation provided evidence for a prehistoric trackway and field system, probably established during the Bronze Age, corresponding to cropmarks recorded within the surrounding fields. Numerous alterations and reworkings of this field system were revealed, with several discrete parts of the site identified as potential settlement areas. Occupation appeared to continue into the Iron Age, although there was possibly a hiatus in the later Iron Age and Roman periods. Low level activity, predominantly agricultural in nature, resumed during the medieval period, with a new system of fields respecting the alignment of High Road that links the villages of Trimley St Mary and Trimley St Martin (S2).