Tyneham, Another West Country Village
On a suitably misty and wet day in 2016 ImberVillage.co.uk's editor visited Tyneham in Dorset and took the following photographs. Tyneham's villagers were given just 28 days to vacate their homes and livelihoods (Imber's had 47 days) also to make way for soldiers preparing for D-Day, They were to leave by 19 December 1943, two days after Imber's villagers had to vacate. Like Imber's villagers Tyneham's understood that they could return to their homes when the war ended, and so left the following 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.".
they were never allowed to return. The words could equally have been written by Imber's villagers.
Unlike Imber, where the military still use it for urban warfare training and visitors are tolerated, and then only occasionally, the village of Tyneham itself is not so used and visits to it are encouraged most weekends (the land around Tyneham is used for training purposes).
Tyneham's 220 villagers were moved out from 102 properties, and in 1952, with the Cold War very much alive the entire valley, including Tyneham itself, were compulsorily purchased by the government, for just £30,000.
"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.".
they were never allowed to return. The words could equally have been written by Imber's villagers.
Unlike Imber, where the military still use it for urban warfare training and visitors are tolerated, and then only occasionally, the village of Tyneham itself is not so used and visits to it are encouraged most weekends (the land around Tyneham is used for training purposes).
Tyneham's 220 villagers were moved out from 102 properties, and in 1952, with the Cold War very much alive the entire valley, including Tyneham itself, were compulsorily purchased by the government, for just £30,000.
To find out more about Tyneham, including how to get there and when it's open, click here.
