RAF Upavon
RAF Upavon is one of the oldest and most historically significant Royal Air Force stations in the United Kingdom, situated on the windswept chalk plateau of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire. It holds the remarkable distinction of being the birthplace of British military aviation, a fact that elevates it far above a typical working military establishment. The site today functions as the headquarters of Army Headquarters, reflecting how its role has evolved over more than a century, but its identity remains inseparable from the earliest chapters of aviation history. The aerodrome occupies high, open ground typical of the Pewsey Vale region, commanding wide views across the surrounding downland.
The history of RAF Upavon begins in 1912, when the Central Flying School was established here — the very first military flying training school in the world. The Royal Flying Corps, forerunner to the Royal Air Force, used this location to train its pioneer aviators before and during the First World War. Some of the most celebrated names in early British aviation passed through Upavon, and the school played a central role in developing the doctrines, techniques, and culture that would define military flying for generations. The Central Flying School remained at Upavon for many decades and the base is considered a cradle of the entire tradition of British aircrew training. This heritage alone gives the site immense importance in the story of both military and aviation history.
The physical character of the camp reflects its long operational history. The older buildings on the site include examples of early twentieth-century military architecture, some red-brick structures with a functional Edwardian solidity that speaks to the era of the station's founding. The open plateau on which it sits means the wind is nearly always present, a constant reminder of the unforgiving flying conditions that early aviators had to contend with in primitive open-cockpit aircraft. The surrounding area is expansive, quiet, and marked by the characteristic features of the Salisbury Plain military training estate: vast open grasslands, flint-strewn tracks, and distant treelines.
The location places RAF Upavon at the northern edge of the Vale of Pewsey, one of the most peaceful and unspoiled agricultural valleys in southern England. The chalk downlands of Salisbury Plain extend southward and westward, forming one of Britain's largest areas of continuous unimproved chalk grassland and a landscape of genuine ecological as well as historical significance. The nearby village of Upavon itself is a small, quiet settlement with a medieval church and traditional Wiltshire character. The market town of Pewsey lies a few miles to the southeast, and the ancient site of Stonehenge is accessible within about twenty-five miles to the southwest. The Kennet and Avon Canal runs through the Vale below, adding further scenic and heritage interest to the area.
Access to the base itself is restricted, as it remains an active military establishment. The general public cannot enter without official business or a specific invitation, so visiting in the conventional tourist sense is not possible. However, the historical significance of the site is well known among aviation enthusiasts and military historians, and the surrounding lanes afford views of the perimeter and landscape from public roads and rights of way. The Central Flying School's origins here are commemorated in various publications and exhibitions at other aviation heritage sites, and the history of Upavon is well documented for those wishing to research it further. The nearest points of public access are the roads and footpaths of the open downland surrounding the establishment.
One of the more remarkable and less widely known aspects of Upavon's story is that it predates the Royal Air Force itself by six years. When the Central Flying School opened in 1912, the RAF would not exist for another six years, meaning Upavon trained aviators under the RFC and RNAS before those services were amalgamated into the RAF in April 1918. The aerodrome thus witnessed the entire arc of early military aviation from its most tentative experimental beginnings through the crucible of the First World War. The ghost of those pioneer years still seems to hover over the chalk plateau, making it a place of quiet, powerful resonance for anyone with an interest in how humanity first learned to fly in organised, military formation.