The village was evacuated in 1943 when residents were given just one month to leave – now frozen in time, it’s a haunting tourist attraction
The abandoned church in the ghost village of Tyneham in Dorset, where locals left a heart-wrenching note(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
A deserted Dorset village stands as a unique place in Britain, a relic from the past that hasn’t been erased from memory. Tragic events forced inhabitants to abandon their cherished homes many decades ago.
Tucked away on Dorset’s breathtaking Jurassic Coast, a visit to Tyneham village feels like travelling through time. Visitors can catch a window into the existence of the residents who were compelled to desert the village during the Second World War.
It was 1943 when the thriving settlement of Tyneham saw their world turned upside down forever. Britain was deep into World War Two when the military commandeered the village for training operations.
This meant heartbroken locals were handed just one month’s warning to evacuate their properties where countless families had resided for centuries.
The wartime government seized Tyneham village and its surrounding territory to establish a training facility for the Allied forces, due to its proximity to the Lulworth firing range.
Residents were convinced they were sacrificing their properties for the nation’s benefit and expected to come back after the war ended.
A message was attached to the church door, which stated: “Please treat the church and houses with care. We have given up our homes where many of us have lived for generations, to help win the war to keep men free. We will return one day and thank you for treating the village kindly.”
Tragically however, the villagers were never able to return to their homes in Tyneham as even after World War Two concluded, the village and surrounding area remained a training ground for military exercises.
Today the village, still preserved in time after more than 80 years, serves as a ‘thought-provoking and interesting’ visitor attraction. It welcomes guests at certain periods throughout the year and tourists praise its ‘fascinating insights into the lives of residents’.
When the village closes to visitors, the gates preventing entry are secured at dusk each evening.
One TripAdvisor review states: “This deserted village has such an interesting history. The boards within the church detailing the villagers fight to be allowed to return to the village and the current position are very moving.”
Another TripAdvisor user called it ‘a wonderful place – very atmospheric and sad but in a way that keeps drawing you back to visit’.
Tyneham’s final resident, Peter Wellman passed away aged 100 in April this year – the centenarian made one last journey to the village in 2024, to revisit the location where he was born and raised.
During his 2024 visit to Tyneham, Peter recalled his early years, telling the Dorset Echo at the time: “We had no electricity, no mains gas and no running water – we had to pump that from near the church.
“I remember going to the beach and fishing and we often had mackerel. We were happy until we got moved out.”
Tyneham village sits within the Isle of Purbeck, though it’s not truly an island but rather a peninsula surrounded by the English Channel in Dorset.