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Ludgershall is a town and civil parish 16 miles (26 km) north east of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. It is on the A342 road between Devizes and Andover. The parish includes Faberstown which is contiguous with Ludgershall, and the hamlet of Biddesden which lies 2 miles (3.2 km) to the east, on the border with Hampshire.

There is evidence of settlement in the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age at Windmill Down on the western edge of the parish.

The name Ludgershall derives from the Old English lutegar "a spear set as a trap to impale wild animals" and halh "a nook of land". The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded small settlements at Ludgershall and Biddesden. The entry for Litlegarsele reads: "Edward of Salisbury holds Ludgershall. Alfward held it before 1066; it paid tax for one hide (about 24 acres). Land for 3 ploughs. In Lordship 2 ploughs, 3 slaves; 8 Cottagers with 1 plough. Pasture 3 furlongs long and 1 furlong wide; woodland ½ league long and 2 furlongs wide." The value was 100 shillings.

Ludgershall Castle was constructed by 1103, and was one of KIng John's favourite residences, one of five outside London where apartments were kept ready for him. The village may have been a planned borough of the early 12th century. It lay on the old Marlborough to Winchester road, which was an important route in the early 13th century. Later, the village lost its importance, and was damaged by fire in 1679. Among the oldest buildings are the Queen's Head public house, from the 16th and 18th centuries, and cottages on Castle Street from the late 17th.

Windmill Hill has been part of the Salisbury Plain Training Area since c.1898, and land in the west of the parish has been used by the Army since 1939. Military activity, including the construction of Tidworth Camp nearby, led to a substantial increase in the population of the parish.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a local MP, Walter Faber, began building to the east of the town on land in Hampshire. This settlement became known as Faberstown. By 1970 Ludgershall and Faberstown were in essence a single village, and in 1992 a boundary change brought Faberstown into Wiltshire.

Biddesden is a hamlet to the east of Ludgershall, reached via Faberstown along Biddesden Lane. It is on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border and while most of Biddesden is in Wiltshire, Biddesden Bottom, the site of the Ludgershall Roman Villa, and the public footpath sign thereto, are in Hampshire.

In 1141 the Empress Maud took refuge in Ludgershall Castle as she fled from King Stephen's army. She was accompanied by Milo Fitzwalter and escaped disguised as a corpse to Vies (Devizes) and thence to Gloucester. Some 600 years later a seal was found by a ploughman, bearing a knight in armour and holding a lance shield with the inscription "Sigillum Millonis De Glocestria". It is thought Fitzwalter threw away the seal to avoid identification when he escaped as a beggar. During succeeding centuries the castle was occupied by many distinguished persons and royalty frequently resided there. The village grew around the castle.

The building was turned into a hunting lodge by King Henry III but fell into disuse by the 15th century. The property is now under the care of English Heritage. Three large walls and extensive earthworks remain, although a large section of the original plot is now a private residence.

The remains of a Medieval preaching cross known as Ludgershall Cross are situated in the town centre and the cross dates to the 14th century, likely during the reign of Edward III (r.1327-77). This is also under the care of English Heritage. It was re-erected some time in the early 19th century in the area that formed the old market place, near the present Queen's Head pub at the end of High Street. It is some 12 feet in height and in 1897, to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, an ornamental iron fence was erected around the cross. The cross has carved representations on four sides but they are badly eroded.

There has been a church at Ludgershall since the 12th century; it was granted to Amesbury Priory in 1228 and united with Biddesden in 1446. Faberstown was added to the ecclesiastical parish in 1945, and since 1979 the name of the parish is Ludgershall and Faberstown.

The parish church of St James has a blocked doorway and a north window from the 12th century. The chancel was rebuilt in the early 13th century and the transepts and north chapel were added in the 14th. The tower was rebuilt or extensively repaired in 1675. Wiltshire Museum, Devizes, has an 1805 watercolour of the church by John Buckler. In restoration of 1873 by J.L. Pearson the roofs were replaced, the tower heightened and the south porch added.

The tower has six bells, two from the 17th century. The building was designated as Grade I listed in 1964.

The font is probably from the 15th century. There is a large monument to Richard Brydges (1500-1588), his wife Jane Spencer and their family, described by Pevsner as "one of the most important of its date in England".[20] Also buried in the church is John Webb (1667-1724). The organ was built by Walker in 1853.

Biddesden House, now a Grade I listed house and home to an Arabian Horse stud farm, is described in the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) as being the chief residence of the parish of Ludgershall. The previous building was built before 1693 and the present building was built between 1711 and 1712.

Corunna Barracks was established during the Second World War; the US Army prepared vehicles for the invasion of Europe at the depot in 1943. The barracks were later home to 26 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers. The buildings were demolished in 2015 to make way for military housing.