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Tyneham

Coordinates:50°37′23″N2°10′08″W/ 50.623°N 2.169°W/50.623; -2.169
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Tyneham
TynehamSt Mary's Church– 2009
Tyneham is located in Dorset
Tyneham
Tyneham
Location withinDorset
Population0 (2001 Census)
OS grid referenceSY885805
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWAREHAM
Postcode districtBH20
PoliceDorset
FireDorset and Wiltshire
AmbulanceSouth 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

Tynehamis aghost villageabandoned in 1943 and formercivil parish,now in the parish ofSteeple with Tyneham,in theDorsetdistrict, in the south ofDorset,England, nearLulworthon theIsle of Purbeck.In 2001 the civil parish had a population of 0. The civil parish was abolished on 1 April 2014 and merged withSteepleto form Steeple with Tyneham.[1]

Location

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Gardener's House

The village is situated northeast ofWorbarrow Bayon theJurassic Coast,about 3.7 miles (6.0 km) south ofWarehamand about 9.9 miles (15.9 km) west ofSwanage.The village lies in a secluded east–west valley between two ridges of thePurbeck Hills.To the north is the main ridge withPovington Hill(191 m; 627 ft) and its highest point,Ridgeway Hill(199 m; 653 ft). To the south is the ridge aboveGad Cliffthat runs from the headland ofWorbarrow Toutin the west to the knoll ofTyneham Cap(167 m; 548 ft) in the east.[2]

Access

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Tyneham is only accessible when theLulworth Rangesare open to the public. The military firing ranges are owned by theMinistry of Defence(MoD) and are part of the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Gunnery School. Safety warnings about explosives andunexploded shellsare posted at Mupe Bay by the MoD: visitors are advised to keep to official footpaths and observe local site notices becausetanksandarmoured vehiclesare used in this area.[3]

History

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The parish includes evidence of occupation dating back toIron Age Britain;there are more than 30barrowsin the area, although most have been damaged by shelling. Proof ofRomanoccupation has also been found in the valley around Tyneham and there weresalt-boiling,shale-turningandPurbeck Marbleindustries atWorbarrow Bay.South of the chalk ridge are remains of amedieval settlementandstrip fields.[4]

It seems that it was once the possession ofRobert, Count of Mortain,the half-brother ofWilliam I of England.The village is mentioned in theDomesday BookasTigeham,meaning "goat enclosure". A century later, the village was known as Tiham and only in later times as Tyneham. The limestonechurch of St Marydates from at least the 15th century,[4]andTyneham Housewas built by Henry Williams between 1563 and 1583.[5]

In 1683Nathaniel Bond(1634–1707) of Lutton acquired Tyneham from the Williams family. He also boughtCreech Grangein 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 surroundingheathlandand chalkdownlandaround thePurbeck Hillswere requisitioned just before Christmas 1943 by the thenWar 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 ofWorld War II,but in 1948 theArmyplaced acompulsory purchase orderon 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 thenMinistry of Works.The building's east front was reconstructed atAthelhampton,with smaller parts moved toMelcombe Horsey and Bingham's Melcombe.The church of St Mary, however, remains largely intact; it has a stained-glass window byMartin Traversand memorials to the Bond family, but the 17th century pulpit was moved toLulworth Campand the plate toKimmeridge.[4]The church andschool househave since been preserved as museums.[9]The church, school anddrinking fountainare all grade IIlisted buildings.[11][12][13]In 2008, Tyneham Farm was reopened to the public and conservation work there is ongoing.[14]

Film and literature

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In 1985 the village was used for the filming ofComrades,which depicts the story of theTolpuddle 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-thrillerAngel's SharebyMike Ripley(2006).[16]

Tyneham is featured in episode 5 of the first season ofLife 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 novelThe Forgotten Villageby Lorna Cook (2019).[17]

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

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  • Worbarrow Bay and Mupe Rocks behind a ruined house
    Worbarrow Bay and Mupe Rocks behind a ruined house
  • Tyneham St Mary's Church - south transept
    Tyneham St Mary's Church - south transept
  • Tyneham School House
    Tyneham School House
  • Tyneham houses - the shepherd's house, Post Office and telephone box
    Tyneham houses - the shepherd's house, Post Office and telephone box

See also

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References

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  1. ^"The Purbeck District Council (Reorganisation of Community Governance) Order 2014"(PDF).Lgbce. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 10 November 2017.Retrieved9 March2018.
  2. ^Ordnance Survey 1:50,000Landrangermap series no. 195, 2015
  3. ^Ministry of Defence (2003)."Safety and access restrictions: Lulworth ranges".Ministry of Defence.Archivedfrom the original on 8 December 2010.Retrieved16 November2010.
  4. ^abcNewman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1993).The Buildings of England- Dorset(5th ed.). London, England: Penguin Books. pp. 431–432.ISBN0-14-071044-2.
  5. ^"Tyneham House".tynehamopc.org.uk.Retrieved14 May2024.
  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.Archivedfrom the original on 22 September 2023.Retrieved16 November2010.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  7. ^"Dorset's Lost Village".Weymouth-Dorset.co.uk. Archived fromthe originalon 1 September 2014.Retrieved16 November2010.
  8. ^Tyneham & Worbarrow – As time passed by...Archived29 November 2014 at theWayback MachineRetrieved 29 June 2014
  9. ^abc"Tyneham – Dorset's ghost village".BBC.2008.Archivedfrom the original on 30 January 2011.Retrieved16 November2010.
  10. ^Wright, Patrick (2002).The Village That Died for England: The Strange Story of Tyneham.Faber & Faber, Limited.ISBN978-0-571-21441-9.
  11. ^"Church of St Mary, Steeple with Tyneham - 1470442 | Historic England".historicengland.org.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 22 April 2022.Retrieved22 April2022.
  12. ^"Former National School, Steeple with Tyneham - 1470431 | Historic England".historicengland.org.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 22 April 2022.Retrieved22 April2022.
  13. ^"Drinking fountain, 17m south-east of the Church of St Mary, Steeple with Tyneham - 1473377 | Historic England".historicengland.org.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 22 April 2022.Retrieved22 April2022.
  14. ^"Tyneham Farm - Tyneham: Where time stopped in 1943".Tyneham.Archivedfrom the original on 4 September 2022.Retrieved22 April2022.
  15. ^Tyneham & WorbarrowArchived30 July 2014 at theWayback Machine,tynehamopc.org.uk; retrieved 29 June 2014.
  16. ^"Tyneham Ghost Village".inDorset.3 July 2019.Archivedfrom the original on 23 January 2022.Retrieved22 April2022.
  17. ^"The Forgotten Village by Lorna Cook".www.fantasticfiction.com.Archivedfrom the original on 22 April 2022.Retrieved22 April2022.
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