A FIELD near the railway line in Corsham was unveiled as a protected Centenary Field to remember the lives of the Scots Battalions that trained there in preparation of the First World War.

The Batters, an area of woodland which runs along the railway line between Prospect Drive and was used by soldiers to prepare for the Western Front, was unveiled as the first Centenary Field in Wiltshire by Councillor Steve Abbott, chairman of the town council's community services committee on Sunday afternoon.

The project is part of a national initiative by Fields in Trust and the Royal British Legion to give landowners the power to dedicate space to remember the sacrifices of the soldiers who died fighting during the First World War and the opportunity to protect a green space for future generations.

Before unveiling the plaque Cllr Steve Abott, chairman of the town council's community services committee said: "In 1915 and again in 1916, before they headed to France, battalions of the Scots Guards found themselves in Corsham, in tents on Corsham's Court Lane, by dint of the fact that Lord Methuen, the owner of Corsham Court, was their colonel in chief.

"The soldiers used this site for realistic training and it was reported at the time that they had transformed the Batters near the railway into a miniature front, with trenched, dugouts, redoubts etc. and carried out many interesting night attacks.

"We are delighted now to have this opportunity from Fields in trust and the Royal British Legion to mark the centenary of World War One in yet another way, with the Batters coming a Centenary Field."