Larkhill
garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England
Larkhill is a garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. It lies about 1+3⁄4 miles (2.8 km) west of the centre of Durrington village and 1+1⁄2 mi (2.4 km) north of the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. It is about 10 mi (16 km) north of Salisbury.
The settlement has a long association with the British military and originally grew from military camps. It is now one of the main garrisons in the Salisbury Plain Training Area, along with Tidworth Camp, Bulford Camp, and Waterloo Lines at Warminster. The Royal School of Artillery is at Larkhill and the Royal Artillery moved its main barracks there from Woolwich in 2008.
Etymology
Before the military garrison was established the area was known as Lark Hill, part of Durrington Down, owing to it being the highest point in the parish. After the first military buildings were established, it came to be known as Larkhill Camp.
History
Much of Larkhill lies within the Stonehenge World Heritage Site, an area rich in Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments. Several long barrows and round barrow groups are located within the settlement.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Larkhill” is garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Larkhill, garrison and town, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “garrison town in the civil parish of Durrington, Wiltshire, England” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q738194. Authority coordinates are 51.198, -1.813. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2008.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Larkhill”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Larkhill primary sources, Larkhill archive and Larkhill research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Larkhill”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Larkhill” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.