SPTA: A Landscape In Service - SPTA West: Imber and Warminster Ranges

The western edge of the Salisbury Plain Training Area (SPTA) is a landscape shaped by both time and conflict, with a history that resonates through its fields and villages. Stretching from Westbury and Warminster in the west to Tilshead in the east, this part of the Plain is deeply connected to the rhythms of military training. The Imber and Warminster Ranges are particularly significant, with the former housing the abandoned village of Imber—a once-thriving community now overshadowed by military operations.

For much of the year, the western section of the SPTA is the most restricted, with red flags marking almost constant live firing exercises. The Imber Range Perimeter Path (IRPP) provides one of the few opportunities for public access to the land, stretching over 48 kilometres.

The “ghost village” of Imber—now a silent witness to both the passage of time and the demands of modern conflict—holds a unique and poignant place in this landscape. The village was evacuated during World War II for military training, with its residents never to return. It stands as a constant reminder of the land’s past. Its church appears to echo with the stories of those who once lived and worked here, offering a stark contrast to the surrounding hills, where tank tracks, artillery scars, and the sounds of modern war games prevail.

The landscapes of Copehill Down and New Zealand Camp reveal the ongoing interaction between military necessity and the natural environment. Despite its role as a key site for armoured infantry training, this part of the Plain has been shaped in ways that allow rare flora and fauna to thrive, a result of the land being left untouched by modern farming practices.

This tension—between destruction and preservation, between conflict and quietude—is captured in images of military infrastructure alongside the resilient beauty of the landscape, where nature quietly reclaims space in the aftermath of human activity.

West of Warminster Down, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Trench system, Operation Interflex, Imber Ranges, Knook, Wiltshire, 2023.

Operation Interflex is the operational code name for the multinational military operation to train and support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Over 50,000* volunteers have completed the intensive five-week training course, which covers trench warfare, urban combat and fireteam tactics, battlefield first aid, survival skills, counter-drone warfare, and instruction on the laws of armed conflict.

*As of November 2024.

Imber Range Perimeter Path (USCU8), Dilton Middle Down, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2021.

The IRPP is a 48km path around the perimeter of SPTA West.

White Barrow, Tilshead, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

In 1909, White Barrow was purchased by the National Trust. Becoming the first piece of land to be acquired by the trust purely in the interests of archaeological conservation. This large Neolithic Barrow has never been fully excavated but finds from a badger sett date it to 3,500 to 4,000 BC. The site became a scheduled monument in 1960. Current evidence suggests there are 2,342 archaeological sites recorded across the wider Salisbury Plain. Making it the most archaeologically rich landscape in England.

Hard Standing, RAF Tilshead (1925-1941), Tilshead, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2025.

On 29 September 1940, 12 Mk III Westland Lysander aircraft were delivered to re-equip No 225 (Army Co-operation) Squadron at RAF Tilshead, Wiltshire, replacing its existing Lysander II aircraft. At the time, the squadron’s primary role was flying reconnaissance patrols along a section of the south coast where German landings were anticipated.

One of these 12 aircraft, serial number R9125/8377M, spent seven months with No 225 Squadron, flying 36 reconnaissance sorties with several different crews.

After service with several other squadrons, the aircraft was returned to Westland in Yeovil, Somerset, on 11 February 1944 for repair and modification to Special Duties specification. It was then delivered to No 161 (Special Duties) Squadron at RAF Tempsford, Bedfordshire, on 15 October 1944. The primary role of A Flight, No 161 Squadron, which operated the Lysanders, was to collect Allied agents from Nazi-occupied Europe.

Both Army Co-operation and Special Duties squadrons suffered exceptionally high losses. Today, R9125/8377M is the only surviving Special Duties Lysander and forms part of the RAF Museum collection.

The only physical remains of RAF Tilshead today are three significant areas of hardstanding adjacent to the Tilshead to Chitterne road, where the aircraft of 225 Squadron would have been serviced and prepared for operations.

Copehill Down FIBUA (Fighting in Built Up Areas) training centre, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

The largest FIBUA centre in western Europe. Copehill Down was constructed in 1987 as a full-size Bavarian-style village. Its 80 buildings include numerous houses, a church, a petrol station, a school, a bar and shops. And a railway siding complete with train carriages and a locomotive.

Discarded notebook pages, Bishopstrow Down, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2021.

The page on the left lists the equipment and members of each section. CLU: Command Launch Unit as used with the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank weapon; LTA: Launch Tube Assembly; NLAW: Saab Bofors Dynamics NLAW single-use missile system. The page on the right is a staggered sentry list, with timings for each soldier's watch. And the times for the day's operation.

Morning exercise, 1st Battalion Royal Yorkshire Regiment (1 YORKS), Battlesbury Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2017.

The 1st Battalion Royal Yorkshire Regiment was the primary regiment at Warminster Barracks from 2012 until November 2020, when it rotated out and returned home to Catterick Camp, Yorkshire. To be replaced by the Royal Dragoon Guards, a reconnaissance force.

Plan of a Russian trench system marked out on the concrete Southern Range Road (SRR), Operation Interflex, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Imber Court, Imber Village, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2022.

Although now greatly reduced in scale. The former manor house once flowed over three floors, with 11 bedrooms, a library and a formal dining room. Along with landscaped gardens and a tennis court. The estate included at least three farms.

During World War I, Imber Court served as accommodation for 46 soldiers, who were housed in the attic. Six officers, meanwhile, enjoyed the more opulent parts of the house. The estate’s owner, Tom Dean, was serving in France at the time, while his sister Gladys managed the estate. She and one of her maids would serve breakfast to the troops each morning and entertain them with piano recitals in the evening.

Land Rover Wolf, Operation Wessex Storm, Cradle Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Wessex Storm is an annual large-scale exercise involving both British and NATO forces.

Schedule 1 farmland, looking towards White Cliff from the Imber Range Perimeter Path, Wiltshire, 2024.

Farmland designated as Schedule 1 is under full agricultural tenancy and may not be entered or crossed by any troops or military vehicles. Other farmland schedules allow for military access.

Imber Range Perimeter Path/Wessex Ridgeway, Cradle Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2024.

Water tower, Tilshead, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

When the US army first arrived on Salisbury Plain in autumn 1943, they were based at No 1 camp. Today, all that remains of the site is the 34,000-gallon water tower near Tilshead. The camp once consisted of more than 80 temporary buildings, which stretched across the landscape beyond the tower.

The headquarters of the US forces was at Tilshead Lodge, adjacent to No 1 Camp.

The US army also occupied the nearby C camp.

Portaloo’s, Battle Barn, Warminster Down, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Target, Exercise Wessex Storm, Cradle Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Communications centre, Exercise Wessex Storm, Cradle Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Defensive Firing Position (DFP), Warminster Down, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2018.

Defensive firing positions are a regular sight across the SPTA, often taking the form of shallow scrapes that provide basic protection to the troops occupying them. These scrapes can be expanded into more elaborate and deeper positions when time allows. This particular example is fully concealed below ground, offering enhanced protection. The structure features corrugated metal sheets laid over branches forming a roof, carefully covered with soil for further concealment. The entrance hatch is located on the southern side, while the firing positions are situated on the northern side, allowing for optimal coverage and defence.

Byeway (TILS13), Copehill Down, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Footpath (WARM39), Battlesbury Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

The summit of the hill is dominated by an Iron Age bivallate hill fort known as Battlesbury Camp. A scheduled monument, the site includes the Iron Age hillfort, an unenclosed Iron Age settlement, a cemetery, three bowl barrows, a field system and enclosure within the hillfort, and two strip lynchet systems outside the hill fort.

WWII anti-aircraft gun emplacement, Battlesbury Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Military access road crossing the main Bath to Salisbury railway line, Bishopstrow, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2017.

Brouncker’s Down, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2021.

Train wagon, Copehill Down FIBUA (Fighting In Built Up Areas) training village, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2020.

The “Copehill Down Railway” was designed by Captain D. Ferguson RE. And constructed by the Royal Engineers Close Support Troop LWCBG.

Until recently two decommissioned Augusta Westland Lynx AH.1 helicopters sat next to the railway. To further expand on the training capabilities of the site.

Southern Range Road (SRR), Bishopstrow Down, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

“In 1998/9 a programme of archaeological mitigation works was undertaken in advance of, and during, the construction of a 23 km tank road – the Southern Range Road (SRR) – running across the south-western part of the Defence Training Estate Salisbury Plain (DTE SP), Wiltshire, from Warminster in the west to Tilshead in the east. Following an evaluation of the proposed route a two-stage programme of works was undertaken at some 30 sites, including excavation, earthwork survey, strip-and-record, and watching brief, as well as the evaluation of areas previously not accessible. Among the latter was an evaluation north of Battlesbury Camp hillfort which confirmed the presence of an extensive area of Late Bronze Age–Iron Age settlement activity, and on the basis of which a full-scale excavation was undertaken – the Battlesbury Bowl site. The route of the SRR was designed, successfully, so as to minimise the impact on the known archaeology. Nonetheless, the archaeological works uncovered remains of all periods, from the Mesolithic through to the Plain’s modern military use, these findings largely confirming what was previously known of the changing patterns of settlement and land-use.” Excerpt from An Iron Age Settlement outside Battlesbury Hillfort, Warminster, and Sites along the Southern Range Road by Chris Ellis and Andrew B. Powell with John Hawkes, Wessex Archaeology and Defence Estates 2008.

White Horse Farm, north of Warden's Down High Explosive Anti-tank Range (H.E.A.T), Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2020.

Opposing Force (OPFOR) Defensive Firing Position (DFP), Warminster Down, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2022.

Water Tank, Upton Cow Down SSSI, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2021.

EG D123 IMBER, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2021.

The Salisbury Plain Training Area is divided into seven distinct no-fly zones, each with its own rules. Covering the Imber Ranges in the west, "EG D123 IMBER is restricted below 50,000 feet due to: ordnance, munitions and explosives; para dropping and unmanned aircraft systems operating on either Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) or Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) rules; electronic and optical hazards."

Southern Range Road (SRR), Battlesbury Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

The 23-kilometre-long concrete range road passes below the Iron Age bivallate hill fort of Battlesbury Camp. The foundations of a demolished observation post are still visible on the hill fort ramparts.

Chalk-drawn operation map, Highland Cottages, Gore Gross, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2022.

The position of Highland Cottages is marked in the map's northeast corner, just below the figure "996.". The Imber Range Perimeter Path is drawn in white chalk leading west from the cottages. With an observation post south of the path on the western edge. The v-shaped line at the map's base represents a track leading from New Zealand Farm Camp along the Berril Valley on the left. And the Imber Road from Gore Cross on the right. The blue chalk details patches of woodland. The large white mark east of the woodland is a trench system.

Imber Range Perimeter Path (WARM78), Battlesbury Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Control building, Individual Battle Shooting Range (IBSR), Norton Down, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2018.

The standard IBSR featured four lanes, each 25 metres wide and 350–400 metres long. Apart from the control building, little of the range is visible today, beyond some shallow earthworks to the north.

The control building was located about 10 metres centrally behind the main firing line. The control room, situated on the first floor, had a console bench running along a full-width window at the front, returning at each end to offer an unobstructed view of the entire range. The ground floor housed a range warden's workshop and store, typically equipped with three workbenches and a low-voltage electricity supply. Adjacent to this was the troop shelter, lined with bench seats and basic storage. The concrete roof of the shelter also served as a viewing platform, accessible from the control room.

In 2008, the British Army launched Project Odysseus, a large-scale review of firing range training, including IBSR ranges. This range likely became redundant around that time.

Interior, Highland Cottages, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2021.

Originally known as Highland Farm, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) moved the farm 1.3 km east to nearby Gore Cross in the 1970s, renaming the remaining cottages. The cottages are now used for tactical training and exercises.

New Zealand Farm Camp, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2019.

This 60-acre multi-purpose training camp comprises a series of building shells known as 'stone tents' which can be used as a Forward Operating Base or to replicate a terrorist camp, refugee camp and a Non-Governmental Organisation base. The 12 'stone tents' are interconnected with a complex series of underground tunnels and overhead gantries. .

Although New Zealand troops were stationed at the camp and in the surrounding area during WWI, the farm's name appears to pre-date this.

In 2019, a one-night music festival organised by The Delaware Road was held within the camp. Once festival goers had arrived, they were not permitted to leave the secure compound until 8 a.m. the following morning for security reasons.

Water tank supports, Copehill Down, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Imber Range Perimeter Path (IRPP) across Stoke Hill, north of Warden's Down High Explosive Anti-tank Range (H.E.A.T), Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2021.

Trench system, Operation Interflex, Imber Ranges, Knook, Wiltshire, 2023.

Operation Interflex is the operational code name for the multinational military operation to train and support the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Over 50,000 volunteers have so far completed the intensive five-week training course.

VP5, entrance to Warminster No. 1 Electric Target Range (ETR), Cradle Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2020.

Imber Range Perimeter Path (IRPP), Middle Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2018.

Belt-fed ammunition, White Hill, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Note: If you are visiting the SPTA, do not touch any military debris; it may be dangerous.

Byeway (WARM39) towards the Harman Lines, Land Warfare Centre (LWC), Oxendean Down, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Southern Range Road (SRR) west of Middle Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2021.

The 23 km long Southern Range Road (SRR) stretches across the southwestern part of the Salisbury Plain Training Area (SPTA), extending from the Harman Lines in the west to Tilshead in the east. Due to the high density of archaeological sites across the Plain, extensive archaeological work was undertaken both prior to and during the construction of the road. Over 30 sites were excavated and meticulously recorded, shedding light on the area's rich historical and cultural heritage.

Looking east from the White Horse Trail/Imber Range Perimeter Path (IRPP), Barn Bottom, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Copehill Down FIBUA (Fighting in Built Up Areas) training centre, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

The purpose-built urban training facility at Copehill Down is designed to simulate a range of real-world scenarios, offering a versatile and realistic environment for military training. The streets can be "dressed" to reflect different conditions. In this instance, the area has been filled with rubble and debris, and abandoned military vehicles and civilian cars are scattered throughout the village.

Walkers on the Imber Range Perimeter Path (IRPP), Cradle Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2021.

“If two strangers crossing the Pine Barrens in New York State, or the equally desolate Salisbury Plain in England; if casually encountering each other in such inhospitable wilds, these twain, for the life of them, cannot well avoid a mutual salutation...” From Moby Dick by Herman Melville (1819–1891).

Stoke Hill, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2021.

Land designated as "Penning" is under full agricultural tenancy; however, troops are permitted foot-only access when the land is free of livestock. Both Penning and SCHED 1—where military access is prohibited—are unique signs to the Salisbury Plain Training Area.

Imber Range Perimeter Path/Wessex Ridgeway (WARM64), Cradle Hill, Warminster Ranges, Wiltshire, 2024.

In the 1970s, Cradle Hill near Warminster became infamous for mysterious UFO sightings that were collectively referred to as "The Warminster Thing." The phenomenon began in the late 1960s and escalated throughout the following decade, with numerous reports of strange lights, odd noises, and unidentified flying objects observed in the skies above the area. Locals and visitors alike described hearing unexplained sounds, including a low hum and strange booming noises, often coinciding with sightings of glowing or fast-moving objects. The events garnered widespread media attention, and Cradle Hill became a popular spot for UFO enthusiasts hoping to witness the phenomenon firsthand. Though the true nature of "The Warminster Thing" remains unexplained, the incidents contributed to Warminster's reputation as a hotspot for UFO activity, cementing its place in British UFO lore.

Copehill Down FIBUA training centre, Imber Ranges, Wiltshire, 2023.

Site of Searchlight Battery No. 531 44, 1940–45, Scratchbury Hill, Wiltshire, 2021.

Following their evacuation from Dunkirk in 1940, the 3 (Ulster) Searchlight Regiment was quickly re-equipped and assigned to Anti-Aircraft (AA) Command. The regiment was tasked with protecting RAF airfields in southwest England, establishing at least 15 batteries across the SPTA Centre and West. All of these were operational by 16 October 1940 and remained in service until 1945.