Coddenham was the largest settlement in Suffolk during the Roman Occupation. There were two Roman forts at the site at Baylham House (currently between Coddenham Village and the River Gipping to the east), which was known as Combretovium. The two forts (one large on encircling a smaller fort) were surrounded by a triple ditch system covering approximately 14.5 acres (5.8ha), with the smaller fort occupying approximately  5.3acres (2.1ha). The archeology of the groundworks indicates that the smaller fort was replaced by the larger fort. The Roman road from Colchester (then Camulodunum) to Caistor St Edmund (then Venta Icenorum) in Norfolk ran through the town.