2: Knook Castle and the Lost Village of Imber

Hidden Wiltshire Podcast

In this episode we move a little further east from the location for episode 1 to visit the Iron Age settlement at Knook Castle. We mine the rich seam of history to be found in this area, thinking about how it might have looked over thousands of years of human habitation and how this has attracted interest from our ancestors since the dawn of archaeology.

From there we head north and discuss the sad story of the village of Imber and share the fascinating story of Alan Dodson who has been trying to trace the location of some cottages he visited as a boy in 1941/2. If you think you can help Alan in his search you can contact Hidden Wiltshire via the links below.

However, we begin with a couple of entirely warranted apologies and explanations.

The music in this, and hopefully all future episodes, is provided by the multi-talented Steve Dixon. This piece is entitled The Holloway.

Reference Material:

A History of the Villages – Heytesbury, Knook and Tytherington (Printed and published on behalf of the Heytesbury Local History Group by the wonderful Coates and Parker in Warminster)

Little Imber on the Down - Salisbury Plain’s Ghost Village by Rex Sawyer

Ancient Trackways of Wessex by H.W. Timperley & Edith Brill

Historic maps available on the National Library of Scotland website at National Library of Scotland Maps

The book by antiquarian Sir Richard Colt Hoare mentioned in the podcast is The Ancient History of South Wiltshire. He also wrote The Ancient History of North Wiltshire. You will need a lot of money if you want to buy a copy!

Links:

Glyn’s photographs can be seen on the Hidden Wiltshire website and his Instagram feed @coy_cloud

Paul’s website can be found at Paul Timlett Photography and on Instagram at @tragicyclist

Steve Dixon’s sound art can be found on Soundcloud where his username is River and Rail Steve Dixon River and Rail. His photographs can be found on Instagram at @stevedixon_creative and his graphic design business website is at Steve Dixon Creative

You can read about Glyn’s visit to Knook Castle here Knook Castle - Glyn Coy, and Paul’s walk which takes in Knook Castle here Heytesbury, Knook Castle and Upton Lovell

And finally you can read about Paul’s visit to Imber in January 2020 here Imber