Higher Wincombe facts for kids

Higher Wincombe is a small farm and tiny village (called a hamlet) in Donhead St Mary, a parish in Wiltshire, England. It's located at the very start of the Nadder Valley, just outside the town of Shaftesbury, Dorset. This area is part of a beautiful natural space known as the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

A Look Back: Higher Wincombe's Past

Higher Wincombe has a long history. Records show a small village called Wincombe existed by the late 1700s. It was officially named Higher Wincombe when maps were made in 1886 by the Ordnance Survey, a group that surveys and maps Great Britain.

The main farm at Wincombe was built in the second half of the 1700s. Some parts, like the barn, might even be older. The farm was made bigger in the 1800s.

Higher Wincombe's Secret Role in World War II and the Cold War

During World War II, in 1943, the village and the farm's land were taken over by the government for the war effort. It became a secret listening station known as the Wincombe Y Station. At first, the General Post Office (GPO) ran it.

After the war, from the 1950s until 1983, the site was used by the National Security Agency (NSA) from the United States. They worked with GCHQ, which is the UK's intelligence and security agency. This was during the Cold War, a time of tension between the USA and the Soviet Union.

The site was also called RAF Wincombe, because it was linked to the Royal Air Force (RAF). For a while, it was even part of the United States Air Force in the United Kingdom. The US Air Force used Higher Wincombe as a special radio beacon site.

Operations at the site stopped in 1977. It took several years to close everything down, with the last parts handed over in 1983. The homes in the village were given back to private owners in 1980.

How to Get There: Roads and Paths

Over the years, some of the old roads connecting Higher Wincombe to other villages became bridleways. These are paths that can be used by walkers, horse riders, and cyclists, but not cars.

Today, you can only reach Higher Wincombe by Wincombe Lane. This lane is a private road and also a bridleway, starting from Shaftesbury. For over 200 years, the lane had a beautiful line of beech trees, but they were cut down in the 1970s.