# Imber (and tanks)



## hnmisty (Nov 21, 2010)

Not sure if Imber belongs in the military section or the residential section...

We went in January when they had an open day. It was bloody freezing.

History for those who don't know it, Imber was a little village on Salisbury plain. Imber was first mentioned in 967, then again in the Domesday book. Its population was around 250 from the 14-19th centuries, being recorded as 440 in the population census in 1851, but by the time the villagers were evicted, the population was down to about 150. 
The War Office started using Salisbury Plain for military training, and by the time of WWII, Imber was a tiny little island surrounded by MOD land, must have been a thorn in their thumb. On 1st November, the villagers were called into the village hall and told they had 47 days to leave. They were promised at first that in 6 months' time they could reutnr, then that after the war they would be allowed back. But soon after the end of the war, the MOD decided they were not allowed to return. The villagers took the army to court, but in 1961 when as a result of a public enquiry, the village of Imber was given to the army, with the agreement that the 13th century church would be maintained.

During the 1970s, a "housing area" was built to practise house-to-house fighting and clearing rooms. 

The village now opens a few times a year and is very popular. 

No one seemed to take any notice of this one





Thanks to this sign my sister did think a dog [email protected] was an unexploded land mine! 

I think this was the pub







































The church








Some people had been buried here as late on as the early 90s I think, possibly later.
















I thought it was very disrespectful to let the village war memorial end up in a state like this




This is the "sheet music" for the church bells, I think it is 14th century









Imber Court, the only one you can't actually get to. I'm guessing its because it was owned by someone more powerful than your mere little villager. 









The modern buildings





















Look at what's stacked up in the background! 





And some tanks

































"Little Imber on the Downe,
Seven miles from any Towne,
Sheep bleats the unly sound,
Life twer sweet with ne'er a vrown,
Oh let us bide on Imber Downe."

The blacksmith allegedly died of a broken heart weeks after being evicted. 

I thoroughly recommend next time its open, its a fascinating place and lots of stairs to climb!  (Having stairs to climb makes me very happy as I still remember the ruined village we found in Spain when I was little and my mum wouldn't let me go up the stairs but my dad did!)


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## klempner69 (Nov 21, 2010)

Spent many a weekend here in my youth..I think the pub was called the Bell or Old bell maybe and Imber court isnt owned by anyone,its all MOD..they just dont want you going in there!


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## smiffy (Nov 21, 2010)

would like to have a mooch cheers !
for those interested Imber wasn't the only village to be used in this way by the War Department / MoD...check out Mynedd Epynnt (spelling ?) up by Sennybridge in the Breacon Beacons...there is also a FIBUA training village there too ..and the old pub The Drovers Arms has never re-opened and is still sat there rather folorn...the village was eventually knocked down though because the authorities got fed up with the villagers constanly wanting to go back to their homes...so the easiest way to defuse the situation was to knock the lot down....I did a post on the ranges up there bout 2 or 3 years back...dunno if it can still be found on here???


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## hnmisty (Nov 21, 2010)

Pardon the pun, but the Bell rings a bell. Oh dear.

I guess you can't give a much bigger hint that you're not allowed back than by knocking all the buildings down  I feel really sorry for the people who were thrown out of Imber, they kept getting told they'd be allowed back, bit of a mean trick!


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## klempner69 (Nov 21, 2010)

Tyneham is another village that was requisitioned in 43 for similar training.


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## hydealfred (Nov 21, 2010)

This is really good post I find the war memorial especially moving. The tanks - Chieftains ?? Are those shells or bombs stacked up there as they look pretty big - 155mm maybe ? Anyone ever been to the army firing days at Larkhill. 155mm self propelled gun - one would fire a shell directly up then bring the gun down horizontal. A short while later the gun would again fire and both shells would land at exactly the same time in the same spot - now thats what I call shooting.


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## hnmisty (Nov 21, 2010)

Thanks hydealfred 
I'm not sure whether they are shells or bombs..they were pretty big, but the photo is as close as I got to them as we found them when we decided to go for a little Salisbury plain drive after Imber. Your guess is probably better than mine!

For anyone who likes identifying tanks, the drive up to Imber will probably be heaven. I got really excited at the first few I saw and started pointing them out...but there were so many. Its a huge tank graveyard.


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## Caveman (Nov 22, 2010)

As soon as I read this post it reminded me of an article that I had read in 'After the Battle' magazine. It was indeed the 'Bell Inn'. Imber Court was owned by a Major Whistler and was requisitioned and bought by the War Department between 1952 and 1959 along with other buildings not previously bought by the War Department in the 1928-1932 purchases.
More on this place to be found here... 

http://www.afterthebattle.com/osCommerce/product_info.php?products_id=165

As for Sennybridge, the village of FIBUA or Fighting In A Built Up Area is far more recent. The Drovers Arms is off lilmits to MoD personnel and I remember it when I was racing there during a motorbike enduro a few years ago. The collecting area was at FIBUA and there were quite a few spent dummy rounds lying about, as well as burnt out tanks and other vehicles. I have some pictures somewhere.
For more on the Sennybridge range look here...

http://www.afterthebattle.com/osCommerce/product_info.php?products_id=206


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## penance (Nov 22, 2010)

Deffinately bombs, shells aint that big these days!
They look like concrete training ordance, not the live real deal.

hydealfred, thats the AS90, can get 3 rounds in the air in 30 seconds and all splash at same time.
Have taken part in the Larkhill open day a few times, normally on 25 Pounder crew as part of the ww2 display, there is some impressive kit shown on those days.


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## Foxylady (Nov 23, 2010)

hnmisty said:


> The blacksmith allegedly died of a broken heart weeks after being evicted.


I remember reading about that. Apparently, his wife found him slumped over the anvil sobbing his eyes out the day that they were told to leave. All the local history, continuity and connections wiped out...it really must have been heartbreaking. 

A great report, H. It's somewhere I've been wanting to visit for a while. Cheers.


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## hydealfred (Nov 23, 2010)

penance said:


> Deffinately bombs, shells aint that big these days!
> They look like concrete training ordance, not the live real deal.
> 
> hydealfred, thats the AS90, can get 3 rounds in the air in 30 seconds and all splash at same time.
> Have taken part in the Larkhill open day a few times, normally on 25 Pounder crew as part of the ww2 display, there is some impressive kit shown on those days.



Thanks Penance - Used to really enjoy the Larkhill open days. Especially remember Jaguars doing straffing runs with their cannons - the whole thing was an awesome display of firepower.


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## smiffy (Nov 23, 2010)

....As for Sennybridge, the village of FIBUA or Fighting In A Built Up Area is far more recent. The Drovers Arms is off lilmits to MoD personnel and I remember it when I was racing there during a motorbike enduro a few years ago. The collecting area was at FIBUA and there were quite a few spent dummy rounds lying about, as well as burnt out tanks and other vehicles. I have some pictures somewhere.
For more on the Sennybridge range look here...

http://www.afterthebattle.com/osCommerce/product_info.php?products_id=206[/QUOTE]

http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=5960&highlight=sennybridge+range

here's my old post on Sennybridge.....and yep the amount of spent cases on the floor up there is a scrapmans dream....half an hour or so with a broom and a wheelbarrow and you'd have some kind brass....


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## Dirus_Strictus (Nov 24, 2010)

hydealfred said:


> This is really good post I find the war memorial especially moving.



Imber must have been a lucky village during the First World War to have had only three killed and three wounded out of a total of twenty-seven who joined the colours, many villages of similar size had between 50% - 70% of those who served killed or MIA - including many brothers and cousins. Perhaps in the great scheme of things, being amalgamated into a training ground that saved countless lives in WW11 was the price the Village had to pay for that luck.


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## Caveman (Nov 25, 2010)

smiffy said:


> ....As for Sennybridge, the village of FIBUA or Fighting In A Built Up Area is far more recent. The Drovers Arms is off lilmits to MoD personnel and I remember it when I was racing there during a motorbike enduro a few years ago. The collecting area was at FIBUA and there were quite a few spent dummy rounds lying about, as well as burnt out tanks and other vehicles. I have some pictures somewhere.
> For more on the Sennybridge range look here...
> 
> http://www.afterthebattle.com/osCommerce/product_info.php?products_id=206



http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=5960&highlight=sennybridge+range

here's my old post on Sennybridge.....and yep the amount of spent cases on the floor up there is a scrapmans dream....half an hour or so with a broom and a wheelbarrow and you'd have some kind brass....[/QUOTE]

The armoured car is a Saracen...minus the turret





Good write up about Sennybridge/FiBUA though. I don't remember much about it except it was bleak, cold & windswept.


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## Hendreforgan (Jan 12, 2011)

My first posting . . .

I happened to remember seeing something about the Church in this report on the BBC website a while ago . . . took a while to find it but here are the links :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11345287

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11765712

I wonder what will happen to that Church when the present "congregation", or descendants of them, die out?


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## richard (Jan 13, 2011)

hydealfred said:


> This is really good post I find the war memorial especially moving. The tanks - Chieftains ?? Are those shells or bombs stacked up there as they look pretty big - 155mm maybe ? Anyone ever been to the army firing days at Larkhill. 155mm self propelled gun - one would fire a shell directly up then bring the gun down horizontal. A short while later the gun would again fire and both shells would land at exactly the same time in the same spot - now thats what I call shooting.



Yes I went to 3 or 4 of them at the end they used to fire the honest john rocket towards Warmiinster


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## hnmisty (Jan 18, 2011)

Hendreforgan- the church is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, so its future is safe 

It even has its own website, http://www.imberchurch.org.uk/


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