Copehill Down

51°12′25″N 1°58′37″W / 51.2069°N 1.9770°W / 51.2069; -1.9770TypeUrban warfare training facilitySite informationOwnerMinistry of DefenceOperatorDefence Infrastructure OrganisationControlled byDefence Training EstateConditionOperationalSite historyBuilt1987 (1987)In use1987 – present

Copehill Down is a Ministry of Defence training facility near Chitterne on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. It is a 'FIBUA' (Fighting In Built Up Areas) urban warfare and close quarters battle training centre, where exercises and tests are conducted.^[1] The site lies in open ground in the northeast of Chitterne parish, between Chitterne and Tilshead, at Ordnance Survey grid reference SU017453.

History

The facility was built to resemble a German village in Bavaria, to provide troops with a simulated backdrop when training for operations in European theatres including the Cold War, the Balkans and Northern Ireland, and was completed in 1987.^[2]

The facility includes a shanty town stacked and laid out in rows of tightly packed streets, to provide an additional training area that more closely resembles the Army's operational theatres in Afghanistan and Iraq. There is also some rolling stock.^[3]

The Copehill Down training area is open for public access. Non-combat access to the FIBUA village is restricted, but has been used for airsoft wargaming and by historical reenactment societies, which take part in private reenactments of battles.^[4]

References

^ "Wiltshire – In Pictures" BBC News, October 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2010
^ "£500k investment for Salisbury Plain training village". Salisbury Journal. 6 March 2015. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
^ "Copehill Down". Landmarc. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
^ Kaushik. "The Mock Village of Copehill Down". Amusing Planet. Retrieved 30 July 2019.