Although not officially part of the Salisbury Plain Training Area (SPTA), DSTL Porton Down and MOD Boscombe Down are integral to the region’s military landscape. Porton Down, home to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), and Boscombe Down, a key site for military aircraft testing, lie on the southern edge of the Plain. Together, these sites represent the intersection of military development and advanced technological research, contributing to the ongoing evolution of defence strategies and capabilities.
In this chapter of SPTA: A Landscape in Service, I will examine the role these sites play within the broader context of Salisbury Plain’s military landscape. Porton Down, in particular, has a troubled history tied to chemical and biological weapons testing and remains one of the UK’s most secure and secretive locations. Similarly, Boscombe Down is closely associated with military aircraft testing, its legacy rich with technological innovation.
I aim to explore how these sites, alongside the wider Salisbury Plain Training Area, are intertwined, reflecting the technological, political, and military forces that shape the region. Often concealed from public view, their histories are deeply embedded in the land, offering an additional layer to the complex landscape in service.
Perimeter fence, MOD Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, 2024.
On the southern edge of the Salisbury Plain Training Area, MOD Boscombe Down was opened in 1917 when it was known as the Royal Flying Corps Redhouse Farm. In 1939 it became the home for the Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment. Which was renamed the Aircraft and Armament Evaluation Establishment (AAEE) in 1992. Today it is a tri-service military aircraft Test & Evaluation centre. And home to, The Empire Test Pilots' School (ETPS); Rotary Wing Test and Evaluation Squadron; Air Support Operations Squadron; and the Defence Accident Investigation Branch. It is frequently compared with the highly secretive Area 51 in the USA.
Booklet, A Brief History Of The Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment Porton, C.D.E.E, March 1961 (Restricted), 2024.
“… Many possible sites in this country were considered (Cannock Chase in Staffordshire was particularly liked at first and some trials, notably with sulphuretted hydrogen, were actually carried out …) but it was decided that the best site on all counts (availability, suitability of the terrain, convenience to London, etc.) was a tract of downland close to the small villages of Idmiston and Porton near Salisbury in Wiltshire. This land was requisitioned under the powers of DORA (Defence of the Realm Act) early in 1916 as the ‘War Department Experimental Ground, Porton’ and in March, 1916 work started on preparing the site. So was the Establishment born.
The land first acquired was about 3,000* acres of typical Wiltshire chalk downland which had been used mainly for grazing sheep. Later, the Ground was extended considerably and included the estate known as ‘Old Lodge’ which was owned by the Poore family whose ancestor, Bishop Poore, founded Salisbury Cathedral in the year 1220.”
Given this booklet states "Restricted" on a number of occasions, it was likely that it was meant for internal-only distribution.
*Today Porton Down occupies 7,000 acres.
Rail tunnel, MOD Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, 2024.
During World War I, a military railway was constructed to connect Larkhill and other camps in that area of Salisbury Plain, to the national rail network. It had a relatively short life. And began to be closed in stages from 1920. Fully closing in 1928.
Perimeter fence, north of runway 05/23, MOD Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, 2024.
The secrecy surrounding the tri-service military aircraft Test & Evaluation Centre at MOD Boscombe Down has meant that over the years there have been numerous stories of UFO’s and “Black Ops." One of the longest-running narratives began on the evening of 26 September 1994. When an aircraft reportedly crashed on the 3,205-metre long runway 05/23. In the immediate aftermath of the crash, it was said the wreckage was shielded from public view by emergency vehicles and screens. Before being moved into one of the site’s expansive hangars. In the hours following the incident, witnesses reported that security personnel arrived in two helicopters. An Agusta A109 of 8 Flight AAC, which provides covert transport for 22 SAS and a Chinook from 7 Squadron RAF, a unit tasked with supporting Special Forces.
Two days later, on 28 September, a USAAF C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft landed at Boscombe Down. When the giant transport aircraft departed a few days later, its cargo was the wrecked aircraft. Speculation grew that the crashed aircraft was the SR-91 Aurora. A rumoured hypersonic spy aircraft developed by Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP) or Skunk Works, in the mid-1980s to replace the SR-71 Blackbird. This speculation was only amplified when the destination of the C-5 was discovered to be USAF Plant 42 Airport. Home of Lockheed’s Skunk Works, amongst other advanced defence contractors. In his memoir, Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed (1994), former director Ben Rich denied the existence of Aurora. Suggesting the name had been arbitrarily assigned to the B-2 bomber project by a Pentagon colonel. But the aviation journalist and former editor of Jane’s Aircraft, Bill Sweetman, who has extensively researched and written on Aurora, believes that it does exist.
Whether aviation fact or myth. The secret nature of MOD Boscombe Down means that the true story of the crash, one the British government continues to deny knowledge of, is unlikely to ever enter the public domain.
Approach Lighting System (ALS), 500 metres, 05/23, MOD Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, 2024.