early 12th century until 1846, the church was a prebend of Salisbury Cathedral. The benefice was united with Fittleton in 1953 and with Enford in 1973 but the parishes remained distinct. Today the church is part of the Avon River team ministry, which covers six parishes. Military camps Cavalry School Military activity was first established at Netheravon in 1904 with the creation of a cavalry school under the sponsorship of Major General Robert Baden-Powell as the Inspector General of Cavalry. Baden-Powell envisioned developments in the use of Cavalry following his experiences in Southern Africa and India, and lessons from the Second Boer War. The school emphasised the use of cavalry for scouting and reconnaissance, recognising that the traditional effects of mass of cavalry had been diminished by the availability of modern weapons. The Officers' Mess was established at Netheravon House. Aviation operations and training Netheravon Airfield is outside the parish, on the other bank of the Avon in Fittleton and Figheldean parishes. A grass strip airfield was created for the Royal Flying Corps northeast of Coulston Camp (later called Airfield Camp) in 1913 and later became RAF Netheravon, an operational and training base. It was the home of No. 1 Flying Training School RAF from 1919 until 1931, and during the Second World War was used again for training and as a short-term base for operational squadrons, with glider and parachute activity from 1941. In 1963 the airfield and camp were transferred to the Army, and became AAC Netheravon (Army Air Corps) from 1966 until 2012. Avon Camp With the establishment of the airfield in 1912, the Cavalry School continued to operate in the remaining training areas until the beginning of the war, re-opening briefly in 1919. In 1922 the school amalgamated with the Royal Artillery Riding Establishment in Northamptonshire and the site was taken over by the Machine Gun School, following a move from Grantham. The Machine Gun School was absorbed as an element of the Small Arms School Corps in 1926. Over time the school expanded to encompass support weapons in general, becoming the Support Weapons Wing of SASC. Courses at Avon Camp included the use of: Mortar Heavy Machine Gun General Purpose Machine Gun – Sustained Fire Man Portable Anti-Tank Surveillance Support Weapons Wing remained at Netheravon until 1995 when Avon Camp was closed and the Wing moved to the Land Warfare Centre, Warminster. The part of