Imber

Imber was a thriving village from the time before Romans up until 1943. In 1851 the population of Imber reached 440 but in 1943 it went from 150 residents to zero over night.

The British War office was buying land around Salisbury plain for military manouevures from the nineteenth century but with World War Two in full flow the British government did not have time to wait and purchase the lands of Imber. On November 1st 1943 all the residents of the village were called to a meeting where they were told they had forty seven days to leave their homes.

With the future D-day landings coming the military needed to train British and American troops so used the village as a combat zone for training purposes.

Image attributed to Scott Wylie

After the Second World War residents were told they would eventually be able to move back into the village but this never happened.

Since 1943 the village has sat alone and without residents yet is still logged in the British census as a village with a population of zero.

The village is still sometimes used for training purposes by the British military and now own land the size of the Isle of Wight for training purposes on Salisbury plain making it a desolate place.

The only time people are allowed to visit this ghost town is on the Sunday closest to Saint Giles day for a service at the church.