FIELDS WE PROTECT

The Batters is approximately 1.5 hectares of woodland with footpaths running alongside the Great Western railway line. In 1915 it was used by the Scots Guards for trench-digging and shooting practice before they went to the Front. The Guards were based in Corsham at the invite of Lord Methuen, their Colonel in Chief and the owner of Corsham Court. A newspaper report in June 1915 reported that the Scots Guards have “transformed The Batters near the railway line into a miniature Front with trenches, dugouts, redoubts, etc, and carried out many interesting night attacks”.