| Isolated in the middle of hundreds of acres of tank-track scarred Wiltshire countryside, surrounded by the battered shells of houses, stands the beautiful 700-year-old church of St. Giles. This Grade II* listed building, decorated with 15th century murals, would in normal circumstances have several authorities vying for its protection.
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However, the ill fated church has no protectors and is already in the middle of a legal process to declare it officialy redundant.
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Surrounded by a 10ft chain fence, a locked gate and "out of bounds" notices the church opens for just one service a year.  | The church of St. Giles |
The vicar is fed up with the time it involves and the local parishes want to get rid of the burden of maintaining it.
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So why is this church being forsaken by its vicar, its parish and church authorities? The Church of St. Giles is the parish church for the ghost town of Imber, a village permenantly out of bounds to the public. Imber an isolated village on Salisbury plain was requisitioned by the War Office a week before Christmas 1943. Villagers were told at the beginning of November that they had to pack up and leave. In just over a month the area was evacuated and the village literally vanished off the map.  | One of the buildings still standing in Imber |
The villagers, praised for the sacrifice they were making towards the war effort, were promised that their village would be returned to them after the Second World War. It never happened and the villagers remained in exile.
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Walk: From Warminster to Imber for a church service.
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