Tyneham

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Tyneham
Tyneham church.JPG
Tyneham St Mary's Church – 2009
Dorset UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Tyneham
Location within Dorset
Population0 (2001 Census)
OS grid reference SY885805
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town WAREHAM
Postcode district BH20
Police Dorset
Fire Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance South Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Dorset
50°37′23″N2°10′08″W / 50.623°N 2.169°W / 50.623; -2.169

Tyneham is a ghost village abandoned in 1943 and former civil parish, now in the parish of Steeple with Tyneham, in the Dorset district, in the south of Dorset, England, near Lulworth on the Isle of Purbeck. In 2001 the civil parish had a population of 0. The civil parish was abolished on 1 April 2014 and merged with Steeple to form Steeple with Tyneham. [1]

Contents

Location

Gardener's House Tynham-gardeners.jpg
Gardener's House

The village is situated northeast of Worbarrow Bay on the Jurassic Coast, about 3.7 miles (6.0 km) south of Wareham and about 9.9 miles (15.9 km) west of Swanage. The village lies in a secluded east–west valley between two ridges of the Purbeck Hills. To the north is the main ridge with Povington Hill (191 m; 627 ft) and its highest point, Ridgeway Hill (199 m; 653 ft). To the south is the ridge above Gad Cliff that runs from the headland of Worbarrow Tout in the west to the knoll of Tyneham Cap (167 m; 548 ft) in the east. [2]

Access

Tyneham is only accessible when the Lulworth Ranges are open to the public. The military firing ranges are owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and are part of the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Gunnery School. Safety warnings about explosives and unexploded shells are posted at Mupe Bay by the MoD: visitors are advised to keep to official footpaths and observe local site notices because tanks and armoured vehicles are used in this area. [3]

History

The parish includes evidence of occupation dating back to Iron Age Britain; there are more than 30 barrows in the area, although most have been damaged by shelling. Proof of Roman occupation has also been found in the valley around Tyneham and there were salt-boiling, shale-turning and Purbeck Marble industries at Worbarrow Bay. South of the chalk ridge are remains of a medieval settlement and strip fields. [4]

It seems that it was once the possession of Robert, Count of Mortain, the half-brother of William I of England. The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Tigeham, meaning "goat enclosure". A century later, the village was known as Tiham and only in later times as Tyneham. The limestone church of St Mary dates from at least the 15th century, [4] and Tyneham House was built by Henry Williams between 1563 and 1583. [5]

In 1683 Nathaniel Bond (1634–1707) of Lutton acquired Tyneham from the Williams family. He also bought Creech Grange in 1691 [6] and the family still hold their Purbeck estates. Tyneham school was established by the Reverend Nathaniel Bond (1804–89) in 1860. It was later declared as property of the rectory and was closed in 1932 due to lack of pupils.

The village and 7,500 acres (30 km2) of surrounding heathland and chalk downland around the Purbeck Hills were requisitioned just before Christmas 1943 by the then War Office (now MoD) for use as firing ranges for training troops. [7] 225 people were displaced, [8] the last person leaving a notice on the church door:

Please treat the church and houses with care; we have given up our homes where many of us lived for generations to help win the war to keep men free. We shall return one day and thank you for treating the village kindly. [9]

This measure was supposed to be temporary for the duration of World War II, but in 1948 the Army placed a compulsory purchase order on the land and it has remained in use for military training ever since. [10] Although littered with scrap used as targets and subject to regular shelling, the land has become a haven for wildlife as it has been free from farming and development. In 1975, after complaints from tourists and locals, the Ministry of Defence began opening the village and footpaths across the ranges at weekends and throughout August.

Many of the village buildings have fallen into disrepair or have been damaged by shelling. In 1967, most of the manor house, with parts that dated back to the 14th century, was pulled down by the then Ministry of Works. The building's east front was reconstructed at Athelhampton, with smaller parts moved to Melcombe Horsey and Bingham's Melcombe. The church of St Mary, however, remains largely intact; it has a stained-glass window by Martin Travers and memorials to the Bond family, but the 17th century pulpit was moved to Lulworth Camp and the plate to Kimmeridge. [4] The church and school house have since been preserved as museums. [9] The church, school and drinking fountain are all grade II listed buildings. [11] [12] [13] In 2008, Tyneham Farm was reopened to the public and conservation work there is ongoing. [14]

Film and literature

In 1985 the village was used for the filming of Comrades, which depicts the story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs. The church had a fibreglass tower and large additional gravestones and Post Office Row was fronted with fibreglass cottages. [9] During the filming Tyneham's original 1929 K1 Mark 236 telephone kiosk was destroyed and the film company sourced a replacement. [15]

The village is the setting for the climax to the comic-thriller Angel's Share by Mike Ripley (2006). [16]

Tyneham is featured in episode 5 of the first season of Life After People , "The Invaders", in which its existence as a settlement suddenly abandoned by its residents is examined.

The village is the setting for the novel The Forgotten Village by Lorna Cook (2019). [17]

The history of the village is the premise for the novel, This Ruined Place (originally published for young adults as Juby's Rook) by Michael Lawrence (2023).

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isle of Purbeck</span> Peninsula in Dorset, England

The Isle of Purbeck is a peninsula in Dorset, England. It is bordered by water on three sides: the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the north. Its western boundary is less well defined, with some medieval sources placing it at Flower's Barrow above Worbarrow Bay. John Hutchins, author of The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset, defined Purbeck's western boundary as the Luckford Lake stream, which runs south from the Frome. According to writer and broadcaster Ralph Wightman, Purbeck "is only an island if you accept the barren heaths between Arish Mell and Wareham as cutting off this corner of Dorset as effectively as the sea." The most southerly point is St Alban's Head.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purbeck District</span> Former non-metropolitan district in England

Purbeck was a local government district in Dorset, England. The district was named after the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula that forms a large proportion of the district's area. However, it extended significantly further north and west than the traditional boundary of the Isle of Purbeck which is the River Frome. The district council was based in the town of Wareham, which is itself north of the Frome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steeple, Dorset</span> Human settlement in England

Steeple is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the civil parish of Steeple with Tyneham, in the Purbeck district of the English county of Dorset. It is situated 8 miles (13 km) west of the coastal resort town of Swanage at the foot of Ridgeway Hill. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 60. The civil parish was abolished on 1 April 2014 and merged with Tyneham to form Steeple with Tyneham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purbeck Hills</span> Chalk ridge in Dorset, England

The Purbeck Hills, also called the Purbeck Ridge or simply the Purbecks, are a ridge of chalk downs in Dorset, England. The ridge is formed by the structure known as the Purbeck Monocline, and extends from Lulworth Cove in the west to Old Harry Rocks in the east, where it meets the sea. The hills are part of a system of chalk downlands in southern England formed from the Chalk Group which also includes Salisbury Plain and the South Downs. For most of their length the chalk of the Purbeck Hills is protected from coastal erosion by a band of resistant Portland limestone. Where this band ends, at Durlston Head, the clay and chalk behind has been eroded, creating Poole Bay and the Solent. The ridge of steeply dipping chalk that forms the Purbeck Hills continues further east on the Isle of Wight.

Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a decorative building stone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worbarrow Bay</span>

Worbarrow Bay is a large broad and shallow bay just to the east of Lulworth Cove on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, England.

Purbeck stone refers to building stone taken from a series of limestone beds found in the Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous Purbeck Group, found on the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset in southern England. The best known variety of this stone is Purbeck Marble. The stone has been quarried since at least Roman times up to the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pondfield Cove</span> Cove in Dorset, England

Pondfield Cove is a small, secluded, south-facing cove immediately to the east of Worbarrow Tout and west of Gad Cliff on the south coast of the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset, England. It is about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of Wareham and about 16 kilometres (10 mi) west of Swanage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mupe Bay</span>

Mupe Bay is a bay with a shingle beach to the east of Lulworth Cove in Dorset, England, and is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cow Corner</span>

Cow Corner is the north-western end of Worbarrow Bay, a small secluded bay on the south coast of the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flower's Barrow</span>

Flower’s Barrow is an Iron Age hillfort, built over 2500 years ago, above Worbarrow Bay in Dorset on the south coast of England. Flower’s Barrow is located about 11 miles (18 km) west of Swanage and about 6.25 miles (10 km) south-west of Wareham. It is in the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and the Dorset National Landscape area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandy Bay, Dorset</span>

Brandy Bay is a small secluded southwest-facing bay, with an oil shale and shingle beach immediately below Gad Cliff and Tyneham Cap, to the east of Worbarrow Bay and to the west of Hobarrow Bay on the south coast of the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hobarrow Bay</span>

Hobarrow Bay is a small secluded southwest-facing bay, with an oil shale and shingle beach to the southeast of Brandy Bay and to the southwest of Kimmeridge on the south coast of the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridgeway Hill</span> Hill in Dorset, England

Ridgeway Hill, also referred to as Grange Hill or Steeple Hill, is the third highest point of the Purbeck Hills in the county of Dorset standing at 199 metres (653 ft), is one of the only hills with a prominence of over a hundred metres, HuMPs, in the county. Near the top of the hill is an 18th-century folly known as Grange Arch, built by the former owner of Creech Grange, Denis Bond. On the eastern spur of the hill is Stonehill Down which is now a nature reserve. There are also good views of Swyre Head on the Jurassic Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Povington Hill</span> Hill in Dorset, England

Povington Hill, at 198 metres (650 ft) high, is one of the highest points on the chain of the Purbeck Hills in south Dorset on the southern coast of England. Its prominence of 107 metres (351 ft) means it is listed as one of the Tumps, although map sources suggest this honour should go to Ridgeway Hill further east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyneham Cap</span> Grassy knoll

Tyneham Cap is a prominent, grassy knoll, 167 metres (548 ft) high, on the South West Coast Path in Dorset, England. It rises above Brandy Bay and has extensive views along the Jurassic Coast across Kimmeridge Bay towards Swyre Head and St Aldhelm's Head to the east, and across Worbarrow Bay to Bindon Hill above Lulworth Cove to the west. It is classified as a TuMP thanks to its local prominence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Church, Tyneham</span> Church in Dorset, England

St Mary's Church is a former Church of England parish church in Tyneham, Dorset, England. The church, which is a Grade II listed building, has 13th-century origins, with later additions, alterations and restorations. It is now under the care of the Ministry of Defence and is used as a museum and monument.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyneham House</span> House in Dorset, England

Tyneham House is a ruined Elizabethan detached house, located in Tyneham, Dorset, England. It was built by Henry Williams between 1563 and 1583 and was for over 250 years occupied by the Bond family, who were the landowners of Tyneham. The house, which was once a scheduled monument, became fell into dereliction after Tyneham was requisitioned and evacuated by the War Office in 1943. The Army partially demolished the house in 1968 and some of its stone and features were salvaged for use elsewhere in the county. The remaining ruins are out of bounds to the public.

References

  1. ↑ "The Purbeck District Council (Reorganisation of Community Governance) Order 2014" (PDF). Lgbce. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  2. ↑ Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 Landranger map series no. 195, 2015
  3. ↑ Ministry of Defence (2003). "Safety and access restrictions: Lulworth ranges". Ministry of Defence. Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1993). The Buildings of England - Dorset (5th ed.). London, England: Penguin Books. pp. 431–432. ISBN   0-14-071044-2.
  5. ↑ "Tyneham House". tynehamopc.org.uk. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  6. ↑ Ferris, John (2004). "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2830. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2010.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  7. ↑ "Dorset's Lost Village". Weymouth-Dorset.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 September 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  8. ↑ Tyneham & Worbarrow – As time passed by... Archived 29 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 29 June 2014
  9. 1 2 3 "Tyneham – Dorset's ghost village". BBC. 2008. Archived from the original on 30 January 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  10. ↑ Wright, Patrick (2002). The Village That Died for England: The Strange Story of Tyneham. Faber & Faber, Limited. ISBN   978-0-571-21441-9.
  11. ↑ "Church of St Mary, Steeple with Tyneham - 1470442 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  12. ↑ "Former National School, Steeple with Tyneham - 1470431 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  13. ↑ "Drinking fountain, 17m south-east of the Church of St Mary, Steeple with Tyneham - 1473377 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  14. ↑ "Tyneham Farm - Tyneham: Where time stopped in 1943". Tyneham. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  15. ↑ Tyneham & Worbarrow Archived 30 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine , tynehamopc.org.uk; retrieved 29 June 2014.
  16. ↑ "Tyneham Ghost Village". inDorset. 3 July 2019. Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  17. ↑ "The Forgotten Village by Lorna Cook". www.fantasticfiction.com. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
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