Photos: ‘Ghost’ farming village reveals its secrets
A lost village which has remained uninhabited since farmers were evicted during the Second World War opened to the public over the Easter weekend.
Farming families and rural residents were given just six weeks to leave the Wiltshire village of Imber on Salisbury Plain in 1943.
They never returned.
The abandoned village was used to train soldiers as they prepared for D-Day and the invasion of Europe in 1944.
It been used by the military for training purposes ever since.
Imber remains in MoD possession and out of bounds to the general public, but the village opens its gates to visitors for a few days each year.
Unexploded ammunition in the surrounding countryside means visitors to Imber are warned they should keep to paths and roadways.
There were five farms in the village at the time of the evacuation in 1943. Today there are none.
The former farmhouse at Seagrams Farm was built in 1880 – but no one has lived here for more than 70 years.
This building – believed to the former Nags Head public house – makes a backdrop for a photo.
Hundreds of visitors flocked to the village when it opened to the public during Easter weekend.
The church is a Grade I listed building – protected status that means it is the only building in Imber out of bounds to the military.
A display inside the church highlights Imber’s history – and how residents were evicted from the village.
Local livestock transporter Arthur Stokes hired out his lorry to move some of the villagers’ furniture.
With no worshippers anymore on a Sunday, children hunt for Easter eggs in the churchyard.
Modern houses have been built in part of the village, so the army can use them for urban warfare training.
Imber Court manor house remains shuttered and locked.
Roofs on many older buildings have been replaced with corrugated steel…
…But from inside it is still possible to see the original roofing material underneath – such as the thatch on this old barn.
This livestock shed at Imber Court Farm hasn’t seen any livestock for years.
The brick feeding trough at Imber Court Farm remains as it was left more than 70 years ago.