MOD Corsham

RAF Rudloe Manor, formerly RAF Box, was a Royal Air Force station north-east of Bath, England, between the settlements of Box and Corsham, in Wiltshire. It was one of several military installations in the area and covered three dispersed sites. Parts of the site are now used by Defence Digital within the MoD Corsham complex; other areas are vacant and some have been sold, including the 17th-century manor house, Rudloe Manor.

The Central Government War Headquarters (CGWHQ) is a 35-acre (14 ha) complex built 120 feet (37 m) underground as the United Kingdom's emergency government war headquarters – the hub of the country's alternative seat of power outside London during a nuclear war or conflict with the Soviet Union. It is in Corsham, Wiltshire, in a former Bath stone quarry known as Spring Quarry, under the present-day MoD Corsham.In 1940, during the Second World War, the site was acquired by the Minister of Aircraft Production and used as an underground engine factory. The war headquarters was commissioned in 1955, after approval by Prime Minister Anthony Eden. However, it became outdated shortly after it was built, due to intercontinental ballistic missiles being able to target it, and the formulation of other plans (such as PYTHON). Nevertheless, the complex continued to have a role in war plans and remained in operation for 30 years.The complex was known variously as "Stockwell", "Subterfuge", "Burlington", "Turnstile", "Chanticleer", "Peripheral", and "Site 3". It was also nicknamed "Hawthorn" by journalist Duncan Campbell, who first revealed its existence in his 1982 book War Plan UK. It was also mentioned by Peter Laurie in his 1979 revised edition of Beneath the City Streets.

Box Tunnel passes through Box Hill on the Great Western Main Line (GWML) between Bath and Chippenham. The 1.83-mile (2.95 km) tunnel was the world's longest railway tunnel when it was completed in 1841. Built between December 1838 and June 1841 for the Great Western Railway (GWR) under the direction of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the straight tunnel descends on a 1 in 100 gradient from its eastern end. At the time the tunnel's construction was considered dangerous due to its length and the composition of the underlying strata. The west portal is Grade II* listed and the east portal is Grade II listed.Ammunition was stored near the tunnel during World War II, reusing mine workings. During the 2010s, the tunnel was modified and the track lowered to prepare it for electrification.

The Corsham Computer Centre (CCC) is an underground British Ministry of Defence (MoD) installation in Corsham, Wiltshire, built in the 1980s. According to the MoD, the centre "processes data in support of the Royal Navy". The centre has been similarly described by Des Browne in 2007, then Secretary of State for Defence, as a "data processing facility in support of Royal Navy operations".In written evidence to the Defence Select Committee in 2007, the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament suggested that the centre supports the software maintenance of the United Kingdom nuclear deterrent programme, Trident. A The Herald newspaper report in 2016 stated that the "UK Software Facility" (UKSF), responsible for the Trident targeting system which was upgraded in 2015, was believed to be located at the Corsham Computer Centre.The facility was built near Hudswell Quarry, and close to the Box Tunnel part of the broader complex of tunnels and quarries in the Corsham area and adjacent to the former Central Ammunition Depot built before the Second World War. It is located a few hundred metres north east of the current MoD Corsham.The site falls within a wider facilities management contract, the Bristol Bath Total Facilities Management project. It was awarded to Debut Services, a special purpose vehicle of Babcock Defence and Bovis Lend Lease, in September 2007 for a period of three years, with the option to extend the contract for a further three years.

Corsham Railway Cutting (grid reference ST862695) is a 6.6 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, England, notified in 1971. The site is on the south-west edge of the town of Corsham. It provides a section through coral-bearing Jurassic limestone from the Bathonian age, and a layer of clay containing brachiopod fossils.

The Corsham Limestone Formation is a geological formation in England. It is part of the Great Oolite Group and was deposited in the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic. It is found in the central to southern regions of the Cotswolds

Box Mine (grid reference ST838690) is a 56.6 ha (139.9 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, near the village of Box in Wiltshire, England, notified in 1991. The site forms part of the Bath and Bradford-on-Avon Bats Special Area of Conservation.

Guyers House near Corsham, Wiltshire is a building of historical significance and is listed on the English Heritage Register. It commenced modestly as a farmhouse in about 1670 and sections were added to it progressively through the centuries. It is now a hotel and restaurant and caters for special events, particularly weddings.

Rudloe Manor is a 17th-century Grade II* listed manor house in Box parish, Wiltshire, England. The Manor is situated at the top of Box Hill in Rudloe, on the western outskirts of Corsham, about 7 miles (11 km) north-east of the city of Bath. The Manor is recorded from the early 13th Century and was rebuilt in c.1685. Within the curtilage there is a 17th-century multi-bay cart shed, a 12th-century tithe barn and a 17th-century coach house adjacent to a former granary, along with Grade II listed entrance gates and screen. To the north there is the former farm enclosure and stable block.

Chapel Plaister is a hamlet in west Wiltshire, England. It lies on the B3109 road between Corsham and Bradford on Avon, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east of the village of Box and 2.5 miles (4 km) south-west of the town of Corsham. The settlement takes its name from a small Anglican church which was a roadside refuge for pilgrims travelling to the shrine of Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury. Founded circa 1235 and rebuilt in 1340 by Richard Plaisted of Castle Combe, it was dependent on the now lost parish church of Hazelbury, about half a mile to the north-west. In the 15th century the whole building was raised, the west porch added, and the nave and transept made two-storeyed; the nave was used as the hospice for travellers, and the chancel for services. Restoration was carried out in 1893 and 1999. The building was designated as Grade I listed in 1960. Today the church is within the area of the benefice of Box with Hazelbury and Ditteridge.The adjacent Bell House, an inn from the 17th century and now a private house, may have incorporated a hostel connected with the chapel.

Box Hill is a small village in Wiltshire, England, most notable for its position above Brunel's famous Box Tunnel. It is located on the A4 road just northeast of Box village, approximately 2 miles (3 km) west of the centre of the town of Corsham, and approximately 6 miles (10 km) northeast of the World Heritage city of Bath. The village has a pub, the Quarrymans Arms.

Hazelbury is a former village in the civil parish of Box, Wiltshire, England. It was about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) southeast of the present-day village of Box and 3 miles (5 km) south-west of the town of Corsham. There was a Roman villa. Hazelbury was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Haseberie, with 25 households and a church. The church fell into disuse before 1540. In the 1872 Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, Hazelbury is described as "once was a parish; and it still ranks as a rectory in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol". The name is spelled Hasilbury in a 1900 book.Chapel Plaister, an ancient roadside church and hospice for pilgrims which still stands about half a mile to the south-east, was dependent on Hazelbury church.The extinction of the village probably followed the Black Death pandemic. Today only Hazelbury Manor survives: a 15th-century Grade I listed building in grounds of 186 acres (75 hectares).