Discover The 'Lost' Village Of Imber, & Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire...
Imber Village Open Days 2026/2027
around 16,000 people visit Imber village each year
ImberBus Day 2026
ImberBus Day will return on Saturday 15th August 2026
The church will be open from 9am until 6pm or after the last bus leaves
The church will be open from 9am until 6pm or after the last bus leaves
August Open Days 2026
Imber village, Salisbury Plain access roads and St Giles Church will be open to visitors over the August Bank Holiday weekend between Saturday 29th and Monday 31st August 2026. St Giles will be open from 11am to 4pm daily. Roads to Imber will likely be open from 8am on Saturday 29 August to 6pm on Monday 31 August 2026.
FOR DIRECTIONS TO IMBER VILLAGE CLICK HERE
FOR DIRECTIONS TO IMBER VILLAGE CLICK HERE
Annual Service of Remembrance 2026
St Giles Church, Imber, hopes to have the Service of remembrance on 07 November 2026
Arrangements for the Service are still to be confirmed
Arrangements for the Service are still to be confirmed
Christmas/New Year
To be advised
map/plan of Imber village
The latest access information for roads through Imber can be confirmed nearer the time on the SPTA Walks Line: (01980) 674763.
Imber.org.uk does not manage the village and advises visitors to adhere to all safety advice when there.
Imber.org.uk does not manage the village and advises visitors to adhere to all safety advice when there.
Charlie White and John Cruse
Old photographs have been coloured by Imber.org.uk to show the villagers and village as they were, full of life, not just a museum piece. Imber.org.uk pays tribute to the remarkable people who lived in the 'lost' village of Imber, on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire, and who were never allowed to return, as well as to those who now run the surviving church of Imber, St Giles, and to those who also continue to keep the story alive in print.
Given nowhere else to go to Imber's villagers were 'liberated' of their homes in 1943, with just 47 days notice, to make way for American troops to train for the liberation of Europe during World War II. With foresight the Ministry of Defence, as it is now called, had before the war bought up the farms and even much of the village itself to make Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire the largest military training ground in the United Kingdom. Thus the villagers were 'just' tenants, so were easily made to vacate their homes and livelihoods, but as they understood it only until the war ended. Shortly before the war began council houses, which can still be seen there, were built at Imber, a sure sign that neither the council nor the villagers, maybe not even the MOD (as it is called today), expected the village to be permanently taken over. However Salisbury Plain remains, even today, too useful a training ground, so the villagers were never allowed back. Even for visitors the road through Imber village is rarely open, even less often now that the MOD is concerned about the safety of visitors who ignore the warning signs not to, and enter at risk old and new buildings now just, apart from the church, used for urban warfare training.
Photographs here on Imber.org.uk show what the village looked like, more of its history, and offer an online tour of Imber. The website is published and funded by a resident of the local town of Warminster.
Given nowhere else to go to Imber's villagers were 'liberated' of their homes in 1943, with just 47 days notice, to make way for American troops to train for the liberation of Europe during World War II. With foresight the Ministry of Defence, as it is now called, had before the war bought up the farms and even much of the village itself to make Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire the largest military training ground in the United Kingdom. Thus the villagers were 'just' tenants, so were easily made to vacate their homes and livelihoods, but as they understood it only until the war ended. Shortly before the war began council houses, which can still be seen there, were built at Imber, a sure sign that neither the council nor the villagers, maybe not even the MOD (as it is called today), expected the village to be permanently taken over. However Salisbury Plain remains, even today, too useful a training ground, so the villagers were never allowed back. Even for visitors the road through Imber village is rarely open, even less often now that the MOD is concerned about the safety of visitors who ignore the warning signs not to, and enter at risk old and new buildings now just, apart from the church, used for urban warfare training.
Photographs here on Imber.org.uk show what the village looked like, more of its history, and offer an online tour of Imber. The website is published and funded by a resident of the local town of Warminster.
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Imber.org.uk does not manage the village and advises visitors to adhere to all safety advice when there.
Photographs are copyright, but see contact information for re-use restrictions.
Photographs are copyright, but see contact information for re-use restrictions.
By the same author:
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