the history of Greenham Common

Greenham Common has been, for most of its history, a valuable piece of common land and a shared sustainable resource for local farmers and cottagers.

Primitive man roamed the local area, using flints for tools. A Neolithic axe was found at Banks Farm - now Crookham Manor.

There have been various finds at Greenham from the Romano-British period, including coins and pottery.

A church at Greenham was mentioned in the Domesday Book. In 1199 Greenham Manor was granted by King John to the Knights Hospitallers, a military order with a monastic life style. They remained until 1540. A medieval seal was found at Greenham.

Parliamentary troops marched across the Common in 1643, during the Civil War, when there was much fighting in the local area.

In 1745 the Common was used as a marshalling base for English troops during the Jacobite Rebellion, and saw troop maneouvres again in 1862 and 1890. While not being used for military purposes the Common was used for small scale industrial and agricultural purposes and for shooting and poaching.

For the first forty years of the 20th century the Common was a popular picnic venue. Then, during World War II the Common was completely taken over for military use and transformed into an airbase. It was prominent in the D-Day offensive launched in 1944.

Winston Churchill shakes hands with Brig. Gen. Don Pratt, 101st Airborne Division, 23rd March 1944.

It was at Greenham that Dwight D. Eisenhower made his famous 'Eyes of the world' speech. Here, General Eisenhower talks to camouflaged paratroopers waiting to board C-47 Skytrains, 5th June 1944.

For a brief period after 1947 the military left the Common, but the onset of the Cold War brought it back into military occupation. The 1980s saw the arrival of cruise missiles. The missile silos (photo: 25th January 1989) were constructed in the early 1980's to give protection from possible nuclear and conventional attack.

During the 1980's the whole world watched the Greenham peace women protest against the siting of nuclear weapons at Greenham Common.

The last cruise missile left Greenham Common on March 5th 1991 and in 1993 the Airbase was declared redundant for military purposes. The fate of Greenham Common hung in the balance. The runway at Greenham lay deserted while its fate was decided.

Concerned local people, aware that the Common could be sold piecemeal for housing development, and lost forever to the local community, formed Greenham Common Trust. The Trust purchased the former airbase on 24th March 1997. The picture below shows what happened to the former airbase and the outlying premises formerly owned by the MoD.

Greenham Common has now been restored and re-opened for local people to enjoy again. See the Restoration page for details.

An exciting and unusual new business park, offering employment opportunities and also many community resources, is being developeded for the benefit of local people. Visit www.new-greenham-park.co.uk for more information.

In 2002 the Women's peace movement dedicated an historic commemorative site just outside the entrance to New Greenham Park. The site features a stone and steel spiral water feature and a six-foot high steel sculpture of a campfire, within a circle of seven Welsh standing stones enclosed within a garden setting. The sculptures were designed by Michael Marriott FRBS, to symbolise the Greenham Common peace camp.

The GAMA site (GLCM Alert and Maintenance Area), the high security area that housed the cruise missiles, is now surrounded by Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). GAMA still remains a very visible reminder of Greenham Common's past and the history of international conflict during the late twentieth century. It is still separated from the rest of Greenham Common by seven high-security fences.

For a more in-depth look at the history of Greenham Common visit Greenham:a common inheritance. For a more in-depth look at the Common's military history visit RAF Greenham Common.