Codford to Warminster

The railway continues along flood plain between Upton Lovell and Corton passing Crop Research Station on the right. A gentle climb up towards Heytesbury under new A36 bypass road clinging to the lower contours of Scratchbury Camp on right...

• Heytesbury
Heytesbury's most famous resident was the World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon. After the war he bought Heytesbury House where he lived until his death in 1967. Heytesbury had once tried to rival its industrial neighbour Warminster but it wasn't to be; in 1931 its population was only 454 compared to 1412 a hundred years before.

• Scratchbury Camp
Scratchbury and its neighbour Battlesbury are two fine examples of Iron Age fortresses. Scratchbury comprises some 16 hectares (40 acres). There are three main entrances into the camp and, within the enclosure, numerous Bronze Age round barrows.

The railway progresses past the abandoned medieval village of Middleton and then through the outskirts of Warminster and its military camps, including Battlesbury Barracks.

• Warminster
After Wilton, Warminster is the next major town on the railway's northerly route and lies on the edge of the Wylye valley. Before his defeat of the Danes in 878, Alfred gathered his army at Warminster. Today Warminster maintains its military connections and is home to the Army School of Infantry and the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, which both have large camps. The area is known for its links with the army as well as UFOs and there has been much speculation to connect the two!

Click here for Warminster to Westbury >>