More than 4,000 people took advantage of a rare chance to visit Wiltshire’s uninhabited ‘ghost village’ at Imber.
The village, which has been owned by the Ministry of Defence since 1932, was opened over the Easter weekend from April 7-10 with just over 1,000 people a day visiting.
Most of the village is long gone, but the empty houses and cottages that remain gives a fascinating glimpse into its history and its military use.
Neil Skelton, who looks after the historic St Giles Church at Imber for the Churches Conservation Trust charity, said visitors appeared to have enjoyed their tour around the village.
“Everyone seemed happy and there was a lovely atmosphere. People were sitting out with picnics in the churchyard“, Mr Skelton said.
St Giles Church volunteers laid on refreshments for visitors and devised an Easter egg hunt inside the historic Grade 1 listed church to keep younger children entertained.
On Monday evening, around 130 people raised around £2,500 for the church by attending classic concert featuring the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Landmarc conservation group volunteers Andrew Fudge and John Mitchell were on hand to help visitors with information.
Mr Mitchell said: “We are part of the visitor safety team and walk up and down the main road, giving information on the village to visitors and making sure they don’t go into the houses.
“Some of the visitors have ancestors who lived here, while others are just looking at the houses or searching for souvenirs.
“Fewer than one per cent groan about not being able to go into the houses but it has been illegal since 1961 when the Army bylaws were passed.”
Among those visiting the Salisbury Plain village were seven members of the Somer Valley Cycling Club from Radstock on a 60-mile road trip.
Club member Emma Savage, 54, said: “It was my first visit to Imber. It was very busy and I didn’t realise how popular it is.
“You definitely get that sense of it being a village at one point in time. It’s quite eerie now though with all the empty houses.”
Imber village is still used by the military and it is part of the Salisbury Plain training area.
Access is restricted to just a few weeks of opening times each year, usually once in the spring, summer, and over the Christmas/New Year period.
The only building in Imber that is regularly open to visitors is the historic medieval church of St Giles.
The rest of the buildings are off-limits to visitors for most of the year and can only be explored during the designated open days allowed by the MoD.
The military began using Salisbury Plain for training in 1897, and during the First World War Imber Court was used to house troops.
In 1927 the War Office began buying up land in and around Imber and leasing it back to the residents. By 1932, the military owned the entire village and the surrounding farmland.
On November 1, 1943 the villagers were called to a public meeting in the schoolroom and told they had just 47 days to pack up and leave.
The military wanted to use the village to train American troops in house-to-house combat techniques ahead of the D-Day landings in Normandy in June 1944.
The residents were assured they could return in six months, but the MoD has continued to use the site ever since for urban warfare training purposes.
The next Imberbus day is on Saturday, August 19, using a fleet of restored red Routemaster buses that make special trips from Warminster railway station.
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