Tyneham | Exploring Britain's Abandoned World War II Ghost Village

Hidden away from public view in the danger area of a closed off army live fire training area on the south coast of England is one of Britain's forgotten abandoned places, and a lasting casualty of the Second World War, the ghost village of Tyneham. Tyneham today has been called "Britain's Pripyat," (referencing the Soviet city that was abandoned after the Chernobyl Disaster in 1986). Also "The Village that died to save Europe".
In November 1943 in preparation for the Allied invasion of Europe (D Day), with no warning , the British Government requisitioned 30 sq miles of the Southern English Coastline to be used as a live fire training area and secret D Day preparation zone for American Forces.

The people of the Parish of Tyneham and surrounding communities, who had lived there for generations, were given just 28 days to vacate their homes before the army sealed off the area.
They were promised that they could return to their homes once the World War 2 was over, but ultimately they were betrayed by the Government, who in the early 1950s decided to keep the land to be used to train tank crews to combat the threat of Soviet invasion during the cold war. The residents of Tyneham would never be permitted to return home!

Over the next 80 years, the village has remained exactly as it was left in 1943, a ghost town where all the people just upped and left in a couple of weeks. It comprises of the lost village, surrounding farms and cottages; and the abandoned mansion of Tyneham House built in the 1500s

The village can be visited by the public a few days a year when the Army Tank Ranges are not live. So in this video I take the opportunity to explore the village of Tyneham and its surrounds, and also to tell the whole story of Tyneham in 1943 in a documentary.

UK Defence InfraStructure Organisation (DIO) Range timetable;

#ghosttowns #worldwar2history #abandoned #abandonedhouses #urbex

CHAPTERS:

00:09 Intro
02:50 The drive to Tyneham
03:17 Tynehams History and the 1943 Backstory
11:57 Entering The MOD Range Danger Area
13:55 Tyneham Churchyard
14:56 The Row and the Post Office
18:05 Tyneham Church
19:35 Tyneham School
21:45 The Rectory
22:46 Laundry Cottages
23:36 Tyneham Farm
25:53 Worbarrow Bay
27:50 Baltington
28:50 Tyneham House
26:35 The Church
30:39 Summary and Outro

[GSTU]

I grew up on the farm that now farms the land that Tyneham sits on, meaning I had unrestricted access to explore all the those buildings through the 90s, didn’t realise how lucky I was at the time, we actually used the farm buildings for storage up until it was made the museum it is now.

[prillewitz]

So, lost your three sons in a war, taken your house, lost the community in which you lived in, what could they take more from you after winning the war? Good story which has to be told.

[stephnewman]

Very sad that the villagers were lied to and couldnt ever return to their homes. Such a shame it wasnt all preserved and given the same respect that the villagers had to the war effort. Such a loss for the villagers. 😢

[chrisrobson]

It gives me a great feeling of sadness to hear this story. Homes where children played and sat around a coal fire in winter, the church where a bride would walk to marry her beau - now all destroyed - a terrible betrayal

[andreamallon]

So sad that the villagers never got to go home, and so sad to see it mostly in ruins.

[patsaunders]

Thank you for teaching me a very sad part of history that was never taught in history class. I feel so much for the people of Tyneham. Even today the government is able to take your home your land and there is nothing you can do to stop them. I feel the least they could have done is keep the village up to par. Watching from Nova Scotia Canada

[johnnybeer]

I first heard of Tyneham in 1984 when channel 4 did a programme interviewing an elderly lady while walking around the village, who lived there as a child . They had a photo of her with the other children at the village school and pointed out one boy who drowned aged 11 when the fishing trawler he was on sank. At the time of the interview she had just had permission to be buried in the the churchyard .I wonder if that's her grave you mentioned from 2003 . I did visit the village soon after, well worth it . 🇬🇧

[markcherriman]

I can remember when you could walk into nearly all the buildings without fear of being blown up but I suppose it's all health and safety now . I lived in Wool at the time .

[davey]

We lost many villages in the wars due to the Pals programme which saw teenagers signing up with their friends and neighbours. So many young men died that there was no one marriageable, so the women simply abandoned their birthplace to look for partners in other areas of Britain - thus dooming the village's fate when their parents grew old and died.

[annenewton]

The best film I’ve seen on Tynham.We’ve not been back for 12 years. I didn’t know they had now put fences round some of the buildings.It’s a very. Sad story.
Near where we live Tidemill was a village until the Second World War. There was a mill, school, hospital, stables and more. They sent the people away and it was used by the MOD as target practice. Not much left now.

[NigelMarston]

I feel quite melancholic having watched that. It's fascinating and quite sad however despite the requisition, the village appears to have been dying out as witnessed by the closure of the school. Still, those broken promises by the MOD are awful. Those villagers would have lived out their lives with heavy hearts.

[gillianparry]

This is the first time hearing of this village and I'm 60. So very sad, thank you for sharing this history. I feel the residents deserved more respect and consideration. Beautiful piece of music too.

[martinmcdonald]

Those houses at 15 mins beside the church should be put back to their original and beautiful condition by craftsmen/women as should all the ruins left. This place has the foundations already there just waiting to be brought back to life with people waiting to inhabit that `ghost village`. Well done Andy, really enjoyed your research and delivery.

[Rachel-boqg]

A very sad story. Nicely filmed and narrated, well done 👍

[Leaffycottage]

Loved this video, my husband was an instructor at the camp and we had a lovely two years living there, the kids were little and enjoyed the beaches there, and we used to take our visitors to Tyneham. Found the night firing of the challenger two very comforting 😂, I know not everyone did. Happy memories living there and we’ve been back a few times since.

[zzzzz]

I went to Tyneham back in 2015 or 16, and it was a very moving experience.
It's like a time warp, and you really get the feeling it was beautiful village in its day and how devastated the residents must have been to be forced to leave. There were no fences around the houses when I went.

I think I'll go back and have another walk around later this year after seeing this.

[lawrencemartin]

This is a lovely and interesting film. Thank you so much for all the detailed research. My family and I have been there twice, several years ago now, when our children were small. They loved exploring, as did we and it is a magical place to visit. Such a travesty that it was treated so badly by the MOD and was never responsibly cared for and returned to those who rightfully owned it. As you say, the total loss and destruction of Tyneham House is a massive act of vandalism and a major blot on the record of the MOD. They have been guilty of many such acts over the years and similar maltreatment of civilian owned houses of great worth took place not far away, in the New Forest, where many large country houses were commandeered for use by the SOE as part of a large training network. Some survived and were returned to their owners families after the war and the disbandment of the SOE, but I believe, from my own meagre research, many in very poor condition, requiring vast investment by the owners, to repair them. Others were lost completely. Whilst it is important to understand the value and necessity of taking over such properties in war time, the fact that promises were broken and a reckless and neglectful attitude was allowed to prevail, to the very property and way of life we were fighting to protect, is a shocking and stark reminder that the state often fails in its duty of care to its citizens. Thanks again.

[KatieRae_AmidCrisis]

I've known about and visited Tyneham all my life, on regular holidays to Purbeck. It's always held a fascination for me. Such a poignant story. Thanks for such an informative and thoughtful tour and history.

[fredyyfredfreddy]

Thank you for this window in to history. England must have been absolutely beautiful at one point in time, when it was less densely populated, more wild and less asphalted. It still is very nice and Harry Potteresque, but even more so back then it seems.

[powerdroidgirl]

A lovely video, thank you. My gran Florence, grew up in the area and her (and her many brothers and sisters, the Godden's) went to school there as well as other ties such as working in the big house. They are on the school photo that includes the young lad holding the chalk board who drowned in the sea not long after the photo was taken. I've visited the village many times with gran and great aunts and uncles, each time they shared memories of hiding here, being told off there or having had to walk miles from that way etc. My great aunty Nellie even remembered where she was there when news of Titanic reached Tynham.