Trimley St. Mary is a parish and village on the outskirts of Felixstowe, on a low-lying peninsula between Harwich Harbour and the River Deben, in Suffolk, England. It lies on the Roman road between Felixstowe and Ipswich. Its eastern border is Spriteshall Lane. The village, and its neighbour Trimley St. Martin, are famous for their adjacent churches, which were built as the result of a historical family feud. St. Mary's church is the southerly church (at ). The village has a number of shops, and two pubs. Trimley railway station serves the village on the Felixstowe Branch Line.
According to the 2011 census, the population of Trimley was 3,665.
In the 1870s, Trimley St Mary was described in this way:
Trimley ST. Martin and T.St. Mary are two parishes in Woodbridge district. The churches stand in one churchyard, and are both rubble buildings.
History
The name Trimley means "Trymma's woodland clearing".
Recent archaeological findings in neighbouring Walton showed evidence of Bronze Age field systems in use. The Domesday Book entries for Trimley St Mary and St Martin show there to have been a number of farms and households in the area. There is also a reference to "Plumgeard", which may have been in the area.
By 1811, the census shows that the population of the parish was 346, with 175 males and 171 females. In the village, 35 families were chiefly employed in agriculture, 17 in trade/manufacture and the remaining 19 families were unknown or not recorded. There is more data on occupations in 1881. The breakdown for the males was 57 in agriculture, 7 in general commodities, 7 in domestic services/offices, 6 in food and lodging and 5 working with animals. In contrast, 26 females worked in domestic services and offices and the occupation of the remaining 76 was not stated. The population of Trimley St Mary has continued to grow since records began in 1801, when the population was only 330. By 2011, it had reached 3,665. The 2011 census showed that employment in Trimley has altered greatly. The percentage working in agriculture has declined to less than 1% of the working population. The biggest increases have been seen in manufacturing, wholesale, retail, transport, storage and education. This parallels the general trend of change throughout the rest of England, where the agricultural industry has seen large declines, along with most industries of the primary sector of the economy as people have moved over to the secondary and tertiary sectors in hope of greater pay and better conditions in the workplace.
Governance
Trimley St Mary is part of the electoral ward called Trimleys with Kirton. The total population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 6,923.
Present day
Trimley St. Mary is a small parish lying between Walton (an area of Felixstowe) and Ipswich. There is a variety of local businesses, including window cleaners, beauticians, photographers, metal works, recycling plants, dog groomers, garages, and a care home. The parish also contains Trimley St Mary Primary School, which in 2014 catered for 370 pupils and has been in existence since 1904, maintaining a good reputation.
In July the two parishes of Trimley take part in a two-day annual carnival.
In 2013, the majority of houses that were sold in Trimley St. Mary were detached, averaging at £227,429. The overall average house price for the area came out at £184,795, which was said to have been up on the 2012 average by 10%.
Environmental information from 2005 census data showed that over 75% of the parish was termed "greenspace"; including domestic gardens, this rises to 85%—still below the average for England.
The 2011 census data showed that 3,493 of the 3,665 people living in Trimley St Mary were from the United Kingdom. Of the remaining 172 people, 81 came from Europe, 18 from Africa, 32 from the Middle East and Asia, 31 from the Americas and the Caribbean and the remaining 3 from Oceania and Antarctica. This is a lower number of residents from other countries than the general trend for the UK but is similar to the average for the Suffolk coast.
Trimley Bypass
The Trimley bypass was built in the early 1970s to divert traffic from the expanding Port of Felixstowe away from the Trimleys.
Places of interest
St Mary's Church was effectively closed in the 1980s and has struggled ever since to gain sufficient popularity to reopen as most people have been drawn into the more exciting churches down in Felixstowe. St Mary's and the parish church of neighbour Trimley St Martin are located in adjacent churchyards. The church is said to have a wonderful array of stained glass windows from the late 19th and 20th centuries.