It lies in the Woodford Valley and is bounded to the west by the Salisbury Avon and to the east by the A345 Salisbury-Amesbury road.

[8] There was probably a medieval village at Little Durnford, beside the river, but this had disappeared by the 18th century after parkland was created for the manor house.

Dreda Tryon, wife of George's son Charles, ran a boarding preparatory school for girls at the house from 1942 until 1992.

[6] A Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built in 1895 at Netton, next to the school, replacing a nearby meeting house certified in 1812.

[6] The Wiltshire Light Aeroplane and County Club opened in 1931 at High Post Aerodrome, southeast of Great Durnford.

[12] By 1936 the Wiltshire School of Flying was here, using a grass landing area expanded to 110 acres (45 ha), with workshops for aircraft maintenance and a hotel and offices building on the main road.

Later in 1940, it was chosen (along with RAF Chattis Hill, Hampshire) as an assembly and test site for Spitfire aircraft built in and around Salisbury, after the destruction of factories in the Southampton area.

[16] In the spring of 1944, High Post became Vickers' flight development site, and the minor road which formed the southern boundary of the airfield was closed to allow extension of its grass runways to the southwest.