Dorset, England · a village where time stopped

Tyneham

One day in 1943, everybody had to leave. Nobody ever came back. Come and see what they left behind.

Tyneham village street with cottages, a horse and cart and the church, about 100 years ago
Post Office Row, about 100 years ago

What happened here?

The village that had to say goodbye

Tyneham was a small, quiet village by the sea. About 100 people lived here. They were farmers and fishermen. Their children went to the little school.

In December 1943, in the Second World War, the army needed the valley to practise with tanks. Every family had to pack up and leave within four weeks. They were promised: "You can come back after the war." But that never happened. The army kept the land, and the village stayed empty.

1943the year everyone left
~100people lived here
4weeks to pack up
0people came back to live

Then and now

Slide to travel through time

Same street, same church, same trees. Drag the handle to the left and right. What is missing today?

The same street today: roofless stone ruins, a red telephone box and the church The same street about 100 years ago with cottages, people and a horse cart
THENNOW
Flowers Barrow Gad Cliff Worbarrow Bay The Gwyle 1 2 3 4 5 6 N

The village map

Click a number on the map!

Inside the schoolroom: wooden desks with open exercise books, a blackboard and oil lamps under a timber roof
"Welcome to Tyneham Village School"

Inside

Desks, ink and a blackboard

Look closely: on every desk there is an open exercise book. The children wrote with pen and ink. Mistakes were marked in red by the teacher.

On the blackboard it says: "Habitat means Home." The children learned about the plants and animals around their village. That was their favourite lesson: the nature walk.

Black and white class photo of about twenty children and their teacher in front of the school, 1927
Tyneham School, 1927

Meet Peter

Can you find Peter Wellman?

This is the class in 1927. Peter is four years old. He is not at school yet, but he wanted to be in the photo.

Tip: he is in the front row, sitting on the ground. Count from the left!

SeptemberPeter Wellman

Nature Walk

My sister took me for a walk to Tout. We went by Pondfield the skaters were hiding under the pebbles in the dark and damp they look like giant woodlice. The sandhoppers jumped around and were hard to catch in my jar. I found some cuttlefish. I will give them to Rosie to take for the parrot when she goes to work at the big house cos. It likes to peck them.

I found a lot of things for the nature table. I got yellow spongee eggs, skate and dogfish egg cases and some shells, which mr. miller told me the names of. ✓ Well done.

Dogfish egg cases – also called a Mermaid's purse. Whelk.

Skaters are very primitive and breathe through gills. They like to live in wet places.

Peter's exercise book

A walk to the beach

In simple words

Peter goes for a walk with his sister to the beach. Under the pebbles he finds little animals called sea slaters. They look like giant woodlice! He catches sandhoppers in a jar and finds cuttlefish bones for the parrot at the big house. For the nature table he brings egg cases of a dogfish and a skate, and some shells.

spThe teacher writes "sp" for a spelling mistake. Peter must write the word ten times.
✓A red tick means: good!
Mermaid's purseThe egg case of a small shark, the dogfish. Look for one on the beach!
Peter Wellman as an old man in his old schoolroom
Peter, many years later
Ida in front of the roofless cottages of Post Office Row
Ida in Tyneham

Today

Peter came back. Ida was here!

Peter was twenty when everybody had to leave. Many years later he visited his old classroom. Nobody could ever live here again.

Today the gates open at weekends and in the holidays. Ida stands where the children in the old photo stood: same lane, same walls, same trees.

The end

Thank you for visiting

Tyneham is still there. The church, the school and the ruins wait quietly for visitors. Maybe one day you will walk down to Worbarrow Bay, too.