Sustainability & Our Environment
The Trimley Estate sits neatly within the Felixstowe Peninsular, and large parts of the estate provide acres of green spaces for agriculture, wildlife and recreation. The Estate has been managed by Trinity College since the 1930s, evolving to provide protection for existing habitats and creating new ones – alongside balancing the delivery of new homes and employment space to support Felixstowe, local villages and the International port on its doorstep.
Walking the Trimley landscape
A substantial part of the estate is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and public access is encouraged. We have made substantial improvements to the extensive public footpath network and bridleways across the Estate and we are continuing to ensure safe and convenient access, providing appropriate parking places and information for walkers.
You can find a copy of our estate footpath and bridleway map here – why not take a visit? In addition, the Suffolk Coast Path follows rights of way and permissive paths along the Suffolk Heritage Coast north from Felixstowe on river and sea walls and across marsh, heath, foreshore and low cliffs and via the foot ferry to Bawdsey.
For details of longer local walks visit the Long Distance Walkers Association website.
Our Estate Management team work with our agricultural partners to ensure that the landscape remains as special in the future as it does now, ensuring vital maintenance work is undertaken, hedgerows and woodland are well managed and keeping our paths and bridleways accessible.
Creating a special place for wildlife
Whilst the estate hosts a range of special environments, from maritime coastline to woodland, a jewel in the crown is the Trimley Marshes Nature Reserve, run in partnership with the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. The reserve was created in 1998 adjacent to the River Orwell to compensate for mud flats lost by the extension of the Port of Felixstowe. Starting off as farmland, the creation of its varied wetland habitats was a major project.
Since then, the estate with the Suffolk Wildlife Trust has taken great interest and pride in the maturing reedbed and wetland habitats of the reserve, which now attracts a wide variety of bird life as well as supporting a complex local eco system. The shallow lagoons, islands and reservoir creates a balanced natural environment and breath-taking views.
The Nature Reserve extends over 85 hectares and has a visitor centre, bird hides, picnic area and a circular walk. The lagoon and its islands provide a variety of habitats throughout the year, offering ideal nesting sites for Avocet, Ringed Plover and Tufted Duck, while in spring and autumn the muddy margins make excellent feeding grounds for migrating waders such as Common Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper and Greenshank.
There are a series of short and long walks which you can undertake any time of year, you can access them here.
The Trimley Marshes is not the only source of natural richness within the estate, we host a series of natural and man-made lakes creating a further series of natural habitats on the fringes of the coast.
Our woodland wonders
The Trimley Estate is home to a vital network of woodland, both historic and carefully planted as part of long-term estate management over many years, constantly improving views and habitats. Acting as natural windbreaks and visual shields, the estate has invested in the creation and maintenance of various areas of deciduous woodland, some accessible and some reserved just for wildlife. Winding their way from the coastal areas to the suburban fringes, this woodland creates a unique environment and shelter from the coastal winds.
Constantly improving
The Trimley Estate recognise the balance it needs to keep between providing supporting infrastructure for the wider community and protecting the natural environment. When developments are promoted, we work alongside to local authorities to identifying the least sensitive areas which could be released for planned growth and ensure appropriate environmental improvements are made to retain the balance.
From enhanced landscaping within and around the Trinity Distribution Park to retaining and enhancing habitats on sites needed for development, the long term balance of the environment is a core part of the on site team’s activities.
Our current projects involve:
Encouraging biodiversity net gain on development sites, so that land continues to support the natural environment and not just provide new homes or facilities
Creating new green corridors through the estate, where enhancements in planting and management can create a richer and more varied natural environment together with encouraging rewilding of the land where appropriate
Encouraging and exploring more sustainable farming methods with our farming partners, to balance the farming of the estate with our long-term environmental responsibilities
Our teams get involved in local environmental projects, including the 2020 Beach Comb survey to record and dispose of plastics being washed up on the local coastline.
