The Reflex

The lost village of Tyneham, Dorset.

In November 1943 the 225 residents of Tyneham were given just one month's notice to leave their homes, as the area was to be used for military training ahead of the D-Day landings in June 1944. They were told hat they would be able to return to the village after the war... but, this never happened. The last person to the leave the village was a young lady named Helen Taylor. She pinned a note to the church door which read, “Please treat the church and houses with care. We have given up our homes, where many of us have lived for generations, to help win the war and to keep men free. We shall return one day and thank you for treating the village kindly.”

Following the war, the War Office placed a compulsory purchase order on the village and the surrounding land, and it has remained part of the MOD training and firing ranges ever since. The beautiful row of cottages has been used for location filming for several productions. One of these films companies accidentally set fire to the historic K1 telephone box, and replaced it with a replica... which is still looks to be in perfect condition.

Tyneham village is open to the public on limited days of the year. But the only buildings which have been preserved or restored are the church, the schoolhouse and a farm building. You can see from the photograph that the cottages are now decaying, and the Elizabethan manor house was demolished in 1968... as it was close to collapsing.