Hammonds Blog: Tyneham nr Lulworth in the Purbeck hills

We came to Tyneham Village today, which lies in the Purbeck Hills right in the middle of the Army Practice ranges. Quite an exciting drive as you see lots of tanks nessled in the hills waiting to be fired at! Tyneham used to be a typical Dorset village which relied mainly on farming and fishing to survive. It was complete with Manor House, Rectory (which had 5 staff working in it and the Rector only had 2 children. Whats going on Dad)?!, a Post Office, Schoolhouse, Farm and several rows of cottages. During World War 2 the British Army evacuated everyone in the whole village so they could extend their practise ranges and prepare for the D-Day landings. After the war they decided to keep it so no-one was allowed to move back. There the village sat un-inhabited and untouched until 1997 when Dorset County Council and the Army decided to repair the buildings to prevent them from further ruin and they recreated the schoolhouse as it would have been in the 1920s and made the Church into a small Museum. It is a fascinating place and the children absolutely loved exploring all the empty houses. We had a picnic by the village stream and then walked down to Worbarrow Bay which is really beautiful.