Imber (Wiltshire)
Coordinates: 51 ° 14 '7.8 " N , 2 ° 3' 0.8" W.
Imber is a now uninhabited village on Salisbury Plain and a training ground for the British Army. The ghost town is located in a remote lowland, about 4 kilometers west of the A360 road between Tilshead and West Lavington.
history
Imber was first mentioned in a document in 967. The place is also documented in the Domesday Book (land register of England). The village church of St Giles dates back to the 13th century and has remarkable wall paintings. In 1987 the church was placed under a preservation order. In the relatively sparsely populated and remote area, most of the residents worked in agriculture. Imber is on the census records in England. The population peaked at 440 in 1851, which had fallen to 152 in 1931. 1931 was also the last documented census in Imber. Since 1951, the population has been 0 in the census.
In 1943 the civilian population was relocated and Imber evacuated and it became a training area for American troops in preparation for house- to- house warfare for the invasion during World War II . After the war, the villagers were no longer allowed to return to their homeland. The village, which is now part of Heytesbury parish , remained under the control of the UK Department of Defense. Access for the civilian population is limited to a few open days per year.
literature
- Rex Sawyer, (2001): Little Imber on the Down: Salisbury Plain's Ghost Village. East Knoyle: Hobnob Press. ISBN 0-946418-06-3 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ English Heritage, "Church of St Giles, Imber (1036472)" ( Memento of the original from August 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ "Imber Census Information". Wiltshire Council
