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Report - - Plumpton Rifle Range, Sussex | Military Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Plumpton Rifle Range, Sussex

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VirtualExplorer

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
A while ago I heard about a Rifle Range on the South Downs near Plumpton, Sussex. The exact purpose of the range is unknown but might be military (WW2) in origin or possibly a long forgotten local gun club. After doing a bit of research I found an old OS map from the 1950s which had a reference to the rifle range. Seems that the firing range started next to the B2116 and ended up near the top of the downs. The distance between the start of the range and the targets was about 500 meters so this was some serious shooting - maybe sniper training of some sort.

OS.png



Using the Longitude and Latitude of the location of the Rifle targets from the OS map (50°53'54.7"N 0°03'50.4"W) I found this location on google Maps:

50°53'54.7"N 0°03'50.4"W - Google Maps

What is left of the metal targets and a bunker for the people who set the targets up can be found in dense woodland here. There are no paths to this location and the best way to access it is trampling through brambles from the escarpment to the left. Not a great site and probably not worth travelling a distance for but might be of interest to local explorers looking for something not many people have been to in quite a while

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20211203_134857.jpg
 
Last edited:

Ordnance

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VirtualExplorer

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
A lot of military ranges were marked out to 5000 Yards (pre metres) with firing posts every 100 yds for 'advance to target' with a further firing position at 30 yards for pistol or submachine gun.

This range seems a little on the small side for military use with only four targets, but may have been used in WW1 & WW2 for the Home Guard?

Some clearer bramble free pictures here:



I was thinking it might also be home guard or some kind of local defence training during the Second World War. Main reason I think this is the targets themselves are on the south downs - which were used for military training during the War. If you look at the location of the targets it is just below the ridge of the downs which is a very popular public footpath - I know health and safety was not what it is today 70 years ago but I would think someone might voice concerns about someone getting shot if this was a civilian gun club. There is also what looks like the remnants of a anti aircraft gun close by:

50°53'54.7"N 0°03'50.4"W - Google Maps
 

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