The area around High Lodge has been lived in and used by people from the Neolithic (about 6000 years ago) right up to the present day.
The project has uncovered and recorded evidence of burial mounds, flint mines, trackways, farms and other activities that have modified the landscape during this immense span of time.
During the medieval period a rabbit warren was created here by the monks of Ixworth Priory. This remained active until after the agricultural revolution. During the nineteenth century farming became more important than warrening and High Lodge Farm was let to a succession of tenants until the land was bought by the government for timber production under the control of the Forestry Commission, now Forestry England.
Today the plantations of Thetford Forest dominate the landscape, which is managed as a combination of commercial forestry and leisure amenity
Downham Warren - Section 18
View of Downham Warren
Lingheath Flint mines
High Lodge Ministry of Labour Camp
High Lodge Ministry of Labour Camp
Beat Office
Aerial view of High Lodge (1945)
High Lodge Centre