‘Ghost village’ evacuated and closed in 1943 to have its last ever funeral

Imber in Wiltshire was cleared by allied forces during the Second World War to make way for training exercises for D-Day

Ray Nash's family home at Imber. (Kelvin Nash / SWNS)

A ‘ghost village’ evacuated and closed in December 1943 is to have its last ever funeral - for an OAP who lived there as a boy.

Imber in Wiltshire was cleared by allied forces during the Second World War to make way for training exercises for D-Day.

Villagers were then later refused permission to return to the village - and it remains part of the Army’s Salisbury Plain training area.

Ever since it has only been open to visitors a few times a year and to be buried there you need MoD permission and proof you lived there.

It is now set for its last ever funeral on January 5 - for Ray Nash who has died aged 87.

His son Kelvin Nash, 63, says his dad Ray had always wanted to be buried with his father in the village - who died when Ray was just one.

Ray, a former mechanic for the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, left the village with his mum after his father’s death in 1936.

Ray Nash with St Giles Church, Imber (Kelvin Nash / SWNS)

Despite barely remembering his time there, he always felt drawn to the place the father he had never known had lived - visiting the site every year that Kelvin can remember.

Photos of the family on their annual visit show them standing in the doorway and windows of Ray’s mother’s home - which is still standing to this day.

He expects his dad will be one of, if not the last person to be buried in the village as it’s unlikely any other residents are still alive eighty years after the evacuation.

Kelvin said: “The church in the village was the Church of St Giles, so every year on St Giles day, September 1, we would go and visit the church and village which would be open to the public.

“My great uncle Albert was the village blacksmith and was evacuated from the village in 1943 - he died in 1944 of a broken heart according to his death certificate, so it was a difficult thing for the family.

“Quite a lot of relatives would do similar things, but it was quite a small village. I think the last funeral was about ten years ago now, so as time has moved on he may be the last person to ever be buried there.

“The nice thing is that since his death we have even re-discovered a third cousin of mine who contacted me to come to the funeral - she only lives five miles from the village.

Ray Nash with his wife Elaine, son Kevin and his wife, Pam (Kelvin Nash / SWNS)

“The process of arranging the funeral was much easier than I imagined. There is a man who has volunteered for 17 years to look after the village who has connections with the MoD who sorted everything for us.

“On the day we will have to be escorted by the army into the village, so we’re taking all the 100 or so funeral attendees by coach from Devizes.

“I went over there a week ago to check his father’s grave, it was 7am and -6 degrees, but there was a completely clear sky and the sun was just coming up. It was really really tranquil, there was no other human within a five mile radius.

“It sort of made me think about what life must have been like for farmers living in the village in the 1920’s and 1930’s and how harsh life must have been.”

The funeral for Ray Nash will take place at St Giles Church, Imber, on Thursday January 5.