Britain's Lost Villages: Abandoned Settlements to Visit While Camping
· Updated
Britain is dotted with villages that people simply walked away from, or were forced to leave. The best known is Wharram Percy in North Yorkshire, England's most studied deserted medieval village, but there are many more: settlements taken by the sea, drowned under reservoirs, or handed to the Army and never given back. Most sit within a short drive of a campsite, and most are free to visit.
Five things lost these places. The Black Death and the enclosure of open fields for sheep emptied the medieval ones. Military requisition cleared two in a single year, 1943. Coastal erosion swallowed the rest on the east and south coasts, and reservoir flooding put whole valleys underwater in the twentieth century. Knowing which cause did what tells you what you will actually find when you get there, from grassy earthworks to a church still standing in a valley with no houses left around it.
This is part of our guide to camping at the UK's heritage sites. For pitches near any of the villages below, Camping Sites in Britain lists campsites, caravan parks and glamping across the country.
The lost villages at a glance
Seven stand out for a camping trip, spread from Yorkshire to west Wales. Here is what took each one and how you get in.
| Village | Where | Why it was lost | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wharram Percy | North Yorkshire | Black Death and enclosure for sheep | Open, free, English Heritage |
| Imber | Wiltshire, Salisbury Plain | Army requisition, 1943 | Published open days only |
| Tyneham | Dorset, Lulworth ranges | Army requisition, 1943 | Open when firing is not scheduled |
| Dunwich | Suffolk | Coastal erosion | Open, coastal village and museum |
| Hallsands | Devon | Storm and dredging, 1917 | Viewing platform above the ruins |
| Mardale Green | Cumbria, Haweswater | Reservoir flooding, 1930s | Visible in droughts |
| Capel Celyn | Gwynedd, Wales | Reservoir flooding, 1965 | Reservoir shore, visible in droughts |
Wharram Percy: the medieval village the plague emptied
Wharram Percy is the one to see first. Sitting in a quiet valley in the Yorkshire Wolds, it is the most thoroughly excavated deserted medieval village in England, dug over roughly 40 seasons of archaeology from the 1950s. The village grew from Anglo-Saxon farms, was recorded in the Domesday Book, and reached perhaps two rows of peasant houses and two manor houses by the thirteenth century.
The Black Death of 1348 to 1349 knocked it back, but the killer blow came later. Around 1500 the landlords cleared the last families and turned the arable fields over to sheep, the classic enclosure that ended hundreds of English villages. What remains today is the shell of St Martin's church and grassy humps where the houses stood. It is managed by English Heritage, free to enter, and reached on foot by a track of about three quarters of a mile from the car park. Camp in the wider area using our North Yorkshire campsites.
Imber and Tyneham: the two villages the Army took in 1943
Two villages were cleared within months of each other in 1943 so troops could train for the D-Day landings, and neither community was allowed home. Both sit on land the Ministry of Defence still uses for live firing, so you can only visit on published open days. Do not turn up on spec, and always check the official times before you travel.
Imber, Wiltshire
Imber was emptied in December 1943, when the War Office gave residents 47 days to leave their homes in the middle of Salisbury Plain. They were told they could return after the war. They never could. The village is now used for urban warfare training, and it opens to the public only on a small number of days each year, usually around the August bank holiday and the Christmas and New Year period. St Giles' church still stands and opens on those days. Check the dates on the Salisbury Plain Training Area updates and the community site at imber.org.uk before setting off.
Tyneham, Dorset
Tyneham has the same story with a happier level of access. The village and the whole Tyneham valley were requisitioned in December 1943 and its 225 residents evacuated, one leaving a note on the church door asking the troops to treat the village kindly. It now sits inside the Lulworth firing ranges on the Purbeck coast, and it opens most weekends and through the main holiday periods, whenever firing is not scheduled. The schoolroom and church are preserved as they were left. Confirm the days on the government's Lulworth range access times and Lulworth firing times, then find a base among our Dorset campsites.
Dunwich and Hallsands: the villages the sea took
The English coast has been eating its own settlements for centuries, and two make the point better than any others. Dunwich in Suffolk was one of the largest towns in medieval England, a busy port with several churches and thousands of people. A series of great storms from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries onwards tore the town into the sea, and coastal erosion has carried on the work ever since. What you visit now is a small village, a beach, and a museum that tells the story of the town beneath the waves.
Hallsands in Devon fell far more quickly, and far more recently. Between 1897 and 1902 huge quantities of shingle were dredged from just offshore to build the naval dockyard at Devonport, and the beach that protected the village slowly disappeared. On the night of 26 January 1917 a storm at high tide destroyed the houses, and the village was abandoned within a year. You can see the ruins from a viewing platform above the old village on the South Devon coast. Pitch nearby using our Devon campsites.
Mardale Green and Capel Celyn: the villages under the water
Two more were not lost to nature at all, but deliberately drowned to supply cities with water. Mardale Green sat in a Cumbrian valley until the 1930s, when Manchester Corporation dammed the valley to create Haweswater reservoir, completed in 1935. The village, its church and its pub, the Dun Bull, were demolished and flooded. In severe droughts the water drops far enough for the old walls, bridge and field boundaries to reappear, drawing crowds to the shoreline. It sits in the eastern fells, and you can camp across the wider area with our Lake District and Cumbria campsites.
Capel Celyn in the Tryweryn valley near Bala is the most politically charged of them all. In 1965 the Welsh-speaking village was flooded to create the Llyn Celyn reservoir supplying Liverpool, despite near-total opposition from Wales. A chapel, a school, a post office and 12 houses went under. The loss became a rallying point for Welsh identity, and the slogan Cofiwch Dryweryn, meaning "Remember Tryweryn", is still painted on walls across the country. In dry summers the ruins surface at the water's edge.
Visiting lost villages responsibly
Treat these as the fragile historic sites they are. The earthworks at places like Wharram Percy are scheduled monuments, so keep to paths, do not dig, and never use a metal detector. On the military ranges at Imber and Tyneham, stay on marked routes at all times and never touch anything metal on the ground, because unexploded ordnance is a genuine risk on live firing land. Follow the Countryside Code, take your litter home, and leave every site as you found it.
If ruins and abandoned places are your thing, these three guides pair well with a lost-villages trip: exploring historical ruins near campsites, discovering the mystical sites of Britain, and exploring Britain's industrial heritage, which covers the reservoirs and works that reshaped the landscape.
Frequently asked questions
What is the most famous lost village in the UK?
Wharram Percy in North Yorkshire is the best known. It is England's most excavated deserted medieval village, emptied by the Black Death and later enclosure for sheep. It is managed by English Heritage, free to visit, and reached on foot from a nearby car park.
Can you visit Imber village?
Yes, but only on a small number of published open days each year, usually around the August bank holiday and the Christmas period. Imber sits on a live Army firing range on Salisbury Plain, so check the official dates before travelling and stay on marked routes.
When is Tyneham open to the public?
Tyneham is open most weekends and through the main holiday periods, whenever firing is not scheduled on the Lulworth ranges. Always confirm the current access and firing times on the government's Lulworth pages before you set off, as they change week to week.
Why were British villages abandoned?
Five main causes. The Black Death and enclosure of fields for sheep emptied the medieval villages, military requisition cleared Imber and Tyneham in 1943, coastal erosion took Dunwich and Hallsands, and reservoir flooding drowned Mardale Green and Capel Celyn.
Which lost villages reappear in droughts?
Mardale Green under Haweswater in Cumbria and Capel Celyn under Llyn Celyn in Wales both resurface when reservoir levels fall far enough. In severe droughts you can see old walls, bridges and field boundaries at the water's edge.
Are lost villages free to visit?
Most are. Wharram Percy, Dunwich, Hallsands, Imber and Tyneham are all free to enter, though Imber and Tyneham only open on set days because they sit on Army land. You just need to plan around their published access times.
The short version
Britain's lost villages were emptied by plague, sheep, the Army and the sea, and most sit within reach of a good pitch. Start with Wharram Percy for the full medieval story, plan carefully around the open days at Imber and Tyneham, and read our guide to camping at the UK's heritage sites to build the rest of the trip.
