Martlesham is a village in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, England about two miles (3 km) south-west of Woodbridge and east of

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

. It is often referred to as "old Martlesham" by locals in order to distinguish this old village from the much more recent

Martlesham Heath Martlesham Heath is a village in Suffolk, England. It is east of Ipswich, This was an ancient area of heathland and latterly the site of Martlesham Heath Airfield. A "new village" was established there in the mid-1970s and this has developed in ...

development (1 km) to the south, although both form a single administrative parish. Also at Martlesham Heath is BT's Research and Development Centre, now called Adastral Park. Martlesham was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as ''Merlesham''. The history and meaning of the name are studied in a paper by Briggs. It probably means 'settlement (''hām'') near the mooring-place (''mǣrels'')'.

History of Martlesham

It is believed that there was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

settlement at Martlesham and in the parish there have been some 26 finds dating from the Roman occupation. These include

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

brooch A brooch (, ) is a decorative jewellery item designed to be attached to garments, often to fasten them together. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with gem ...

es,

coins A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

and

tessera A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive ''tessella'') is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a square, used in creating a mosaic. It is also known as an abaciscus or abaculus. Historical tesserae In early antiquity, mo ...

e. Of particular note was the 19th century find of a small bronze statue of a horse on a plinth, bearing a Latin inscription indicating that this was an offering dedicated by a woman named Simplicia to the god

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

. Martlesham was mentioned in the

, which recorded that it consisted of two and a half

carucate The carucate or carrucate ( or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms of tax assessment. ...

s of land (equivalent to about of profitable land). At that time there were 10 villagers; 10 smallholders; of meadow; 1 mill; woodland for 16 pigs; 5 cobs; 20 cattle; 27 pigs; 212 sheep; and 12 beehives. There was 1 church with and 1 free man. Martlesham remained a strongly agricultural area, but the main settlement shifted over the years from the highest ground (where the church and hall are situated) to the point where the main London to Great Yarmouth road crosses the River Finn , a tributary to the Deben. By the mid-15th century, a bridge had been built across the river at this point. White's 1844 directory of Suffolk describes Martlesham as "a neat village near the confluence of a rivulet with the Deben" and states that it has in its parish "510 inhabitants, and of land, partly in rich marshes washed by the tides of the Deben, and partly a large, sandy, and unenclosed heath, extending about S.W., and affording pasturage for numerous herds of sheep and cattle." In 1917, the Experimental Aircraft Flight of the

Central Flying School The Central Flying School (CFS) is the Royal Air Force's primary institution for the training of military flying instructors. Established in 1912 at the Upavon Aerodrome, it is the longest existing flying training school in the world. The sch ...

was transferred from Upavon,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

to a site on the heathland at Martlesham and, on 16 January 1917, Martlesham Heath Airfield was officially opened as an experimental airfield. It continued in this role after the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and became a significant RAF airfield during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Douglas Bader was briefly stationed at the RAF station in 1940, and a public house "The Douglas Bader" now resides on Martlesham Heath. After the closure of the airfield, the lease of its site was sold to Bradford Property Trust, who went on to develop the "New Village" of

to the southwest of "Old Martlesham".

Martlesham now

Martlesham Main Road sweeps, from the A12 roundabout turn off, north-east. Population of over 5600. The headquarters of the

Suffolk Constabulary Suffolk Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing Suffolk in East Anglia, England. The force serves a population of 761,000 in a mostly rural area of 1,466 square miles (3,796 km2), including 49 miles of coastline a ...

is based in Martlesham, on the south side of the A12/A1214 roundabout. The Martlesham site of the Ipswich park and ride service opened in December 2003. There are two pubs, Black Tiles (south part of Main Road) and the Red Lion, which was located on the old Norwich to London road. This coaching inn was used as an overnight stopover for the Royal Mail, with the post being safely locked up until the morning. The figurehead was a well-known landmark with "Red as the Martlesham Lion" being a common expression in the area. The original figure is still outside the pub today. Parts of the building date from the late 16th century, with an early 19th-century wing to the north. A Victorian brewery was also located here. Martlesham Creek is popular for sailing pursuits. The mouth of it forms the confluence of the rivers Fynn and Deben. School Lane marks where the former schoolhouse stood together with plenty of open fields with a view to the creek. Church Lane and its surrounding area has been used for Christian worship since at least 1086. The Church of St Mary the Virgin (built 15th century) is down a single-track lane at the north east of Martlesham, with fields to the south and woodland to the north. There are many footpaths in the area, and a path down to Martlesham Creek crosses through the churchyard. The church has a pulpit dating from 1641 and a 15th-century font by the entrance door.

Governance

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

in the same name exists. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 4,897.

References

Bibliography

* John Morris (Editor): ''Domesday Book – Suffolk (Part Two)'', Phillimore, 1986. * William White: ''History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Suffolk'', 1844 * Gordon Kinsey: ''Martlesham Heath'', Terence Dalton Ltd, 1975. * Paul Firman: ''Martlesham – The Good and Bad Old Days'', The Martlesham Monthly,

External links

Martlesham Portal Community websiteMartlesham Parish Council websiteMartlesham Parish Church website
{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Civil parishes in Suffolk