Copehill Down

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]

Copehill Down
Part of Salisbury Plain Training Area
Near Warminster, Wiltshire in England
Armoured vehicles during a training exercise at Copehill Down
Copehill Down
Location in Wiltshire
Coordinates51.2069°N 1.9770°W / 51.2069; -1.9770
TypeUrban warfare training facility
Site information
OwnerMinistry of Defence
OperatorDefence Infrastructure Organisation
Controlled byDefence Training Estate
ConditionOperational
Site history
Built1987 (1987)
In use1987 – present

The site lies in open ground in the northeast of Chitterne parish, between Chitterne and Tilshead, at Ordnance Survey grid reference SU017453.

Soldiers training at Copehill Down

The facility was built in 1987 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.

The facility includes a shanty town made up of cargo containers 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 Operation Herrick and Operation Telic.

Non-combat access to Copehill Down is generally restricted, however the facility has been used for airsoft wargaming and by historical reenactment societies, which take part in private reenactments of battles.[2]

References
  1. "Wiltshire – In Pictures" BBC News, October 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2010
  2. Kaushik. "The Mock Village of Copehill Down". Amusing Planet. Retrieved 30 July 2019.


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