SPTA: A Landscape In Service - SPTA Centre: Larkhill and Westdown Artillery Ranges

The central section of the Salisbury Plain Training Area is defined by its role in artillery and large-scale military training. The Larkhill and Westdown Artillery Ranges, two of the most significant sites in the SPTA, are vast spaces dedicated to the testing and development of military capabilities.

This chapter of SPTA: A Landscape in Service seeks to capture the scale and intensity of military operations in this part of the Plain. The land here is constantly reshaped by artillery fire, vehicle tracks, and the movement of troops, from the soaring blasts of test-fired artillery shells to the dense military infrastructure of barracks and training camps.

Larkhill Camp has been a vital location for British Army artillery training since the early 20th century. It is here that the echoes of past conflicts meet the technological advancements of the modern army, with the range and its testing grounds playing an integral role in the development of military ordnance and artillery systems. Images from this area juxtapose the mechanised world of military drills with the quiet, expansive chalk grasslands that surround them. These images aim to capture the balance between human ingenuity and the stark, unforgiving landscape shaped by both nature and conflict.

Westdown Range, home to some of the most intensive artillery training, reveals a landscape in constant flux—where the force of explosions and the passing of tanks carve deep, lasting impressions into the earth. This chapter contrasts these marks of destruction with moments of rare calm, where distant hills and grazing wildlife serve as subtle reminders of the land's natural resilience.

The Cranfield Ordnance Test and Evaluation Centre (COTEC), nestled within the central section of the Plain, represents another facet of the ongoing relationship between technology and warfare. As a hub for testing military ordnance and weapons, it plays a key role in the development of new technologies that will shape the future of warfare. Despite its cutting-edge role in defence technology, the site is inextricably linked to the history of the land, drawing on the long-standing military heritage of the SPTA.

Machine Gun Range, Enford Down, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

The machine gun range was established in 1922, and in operation until 1995. This is the only remaining part of the original three-kilometre zig-zag pattern rail system along which targets travelled at varying speeds.

Target Store, former Machine Gun Ranges, Enford Down, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

The Machine Gun School (Netheravon Wing) was absorbed into the Small Arms School Corps in 1926, eventually becoming the Support Weapons Wing of SASC. In 1995, it moved to the Land Warfare Centre (LWC) at Warminster.

Before the establishment of the Machine Gun School, the area had been part of the Netheravon Cavalry School (1904-1922), founded by Lieutenant-General Robert Baden-Powell (1857-1941) after his appointment as Inspector-General of the Cavalry in 1903.

Communications tower, Lavington Hill, Westdown Artillery Range, Wiltshire 2023.

Range marker, Machine Gun Range, Enford Down, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

Forward Battery, Cranfield Ordnance Test and Evaluation Centre (COTEC), Gore Cross, Westdown Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

Constructed in the 1960s as a Ministry of Defence Proof and Experimental Establishment (P&EE) station, the site has been leased by COTEC since 1995.

The building's roof is made of three-metre-thick solid concrete to protect the workshops and observation room from falling debris during vertical ordnance and countermeasures testing.

COTEC is part of Cranfield University, which was established in 1946 at RAF Cranfield, Bedfordshire. It was originally known as the College of Aeronautics (CoA).

Observation tower, Cranfield Ordnance Test and Evaluation Centre (COTEC), Gore Cross, Westdown Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

One of six observation towers associated with the Forward Battery. The oversized roof protects the observation deck from falling debris during vertical ordnance testing.

Byway (RUSH18) southwest towards the Demolition Pit, Rushall Down, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

Bombard Observation Post (OP), Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2022.

Hard Target (FV4201 Chieftain), Demonstration Area, Alton Down, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

Decommissioned vehicles used as artillery or anti-tank targets on the Plain can date back as far as World War II. They are primarily British and US-built armour, with a small number of Soviet tanks. Occasionally, a vehicle is identified as having historic value and is removed for restoration.

One of 25 US-built Sherman M4 tanks placed on the Plain after World War II was later identified as having been manufactured in September 1942 by Chrysler at the Detroit Tank Arsenal, making it one of the earliest M4s built. It was the 467th out of a total production run of 49,234 units across all variants. The tank was recovered in 1991 and underwent a full restoration, which took 4,500 hours.

Another M4 was removed, and, partway through an extensive restoration, was featured in the David Ayer-directed film Fury (2014).

Of the 49,234 M4s built during WWII, the UK was the largest recipient under the US Lend-Lease programme, receiving 17,181 units. A further 4,065 went to the Soviet Union, while the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB), Canada, and the Free French forces received a combined total of 713 units.

Observation tower, Great Fore Down, Westdown Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2020.

Byway (ENFO45), north of Water Dean Bottom, Tidworth Ranges, Wiltshire, 2024.

Lavington Folly Anti-tank Range, Newcome’s Gorse, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

Cranfield Ordnance Test and Evaluation Centre (COTEC) Flare Test Track, Gore Cross, Westdown Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

The horizontal test track is used to evaluate countermeasure flares. Which are propelled along the track using compressed air at approximately 860 kph. Before being fired vertically into the air.

New Copse Down, Westdown Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

A disused telegraph pole takes on a second life hosting a nest box for the Amber listed Eurasian Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus).

Salisbury Plain holds the largest remaining area of species-rich calcareous grassland in northwest Europe. As such, many areas hold multiple protections, including Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Area (SPA), and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

Redhorn V12 (Vedette Post 12), Redhorn Hill, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2023.

Memorial to Jäger Dirk Knöffel, nr. Lavington, Westdown Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2023.

Jäger Dirk Knöffel of the Fallschirmjägerbataillon 313, part of the Luftlandebrigade 31, was killed on September 5, 1993, when the armoured vehicle he was travelling in overturned during a NATO training exercise on Salisbury Plain. In 2019, the memorial cross was renovated by a group of former members of the British Parachute regiment who felt a connection to Knöffel, a comrade in the “Airborne Brotherhood.”

Demolition pit, Rushall Down, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2023.

Live munitions recovered on the Plain are transported to the demolition pit for safe disposal.

Earthworks, Machine Gun Range, Enford Down, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

The rail system along which moving targets once travelled has long since been removed. However, the extensive earthworks built in the early 20th century to protect the tracks from live fire remain.

Today, archaeologists continue to explore the thousands of ancient earthworks on Salisbury Plain, with the earliest dating back four millennia, as well as the sites created by military activity over the past century. After Celtic field systems and linear ditches, the most common earthworks found on the Plain are military trenches, with the earliest dating from the First World War.

Enford Farm, Enford, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2023.

A landscape of two halves. The field to the left is marked “Penning,” meaning exercising troops on foot only can pass across the field when no livestock is present. The field to the right is “Schedule 1.” And off-limits to all troops.

Hard Target, Demonstration Area, Alton Gorse, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

22nd Regiment SAS, Greenlands Camp, Wiltshire, 2021.

Demolition Pit, Rushall Down, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

“It is currently estimated that there remain in excess of 250,000 pieces of UXO and other explosive military debris across the Range.” Project Ubique, Defence Infrastructure Organisation, 2008.

Live ordnance found on the SPTA is recovered and transported to the demolition pit for safe disposal.

21 Air Assault Battery Royal Artillery, Greenlands Camp, Wiltshire, 2021.

Blast-resistant concrete wall, Bombard Close Target OP, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

Bombard Close Target Observation Post (Disused), Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

Crossing B, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2023.

There are three crossing points, A, B and C, on the eastern edge of the Larkhill Artillery Range. Each allows military vehicles to cross the busy A345 Marlborough to Amesbury Road, and move between the centre and eastern ranges.

Byway (ENFO33) towards Enford, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2023.

One of the winterbournes that appear across the Plain in late autumn and winter transforms a byway into a stream.

Byway (FIGH25), Netheravon Down, Larkhill Artillery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

Hard Target (FV4007 Centurion), Demonstration Area, Alton Gorse, Larkhill Artillery Range, 2024.

Introduced into service in 1946, the Centurion was the UK’s main battle tank up until 1962. After which it was replaced by the FV4201 Chieftain.

Looking northeast towards Cherry Tree Farm Wood, Great Lynch, Netheravon, Larkhill Artilery Range, Wiltshire, 2024.

When the War Office began acquiring land in 1897, fencing was common on the estates and farms within its boundaries. This posed a challenge for efficient military training and was soon dismantled. In 1902, on one 1,000-hectare estate alone, 16 kilometres of fencing was removed almost overnight.

Today, beyond the perimeter fences of the Salisbury Plain Training Area (SPTA) or those protecting vulnerable areas and impact zones, fencing is absent from vast stretches of land.