Dorset's Lost Villages and What They Have in Common 

Jack Hargreaves did a documentary on these villages in the 1970s. He dismissed the “plague villages” idea. He said that the valley floor was all forested, and you could not live there. So people lived on the chalk hills, which only had scrubby trees. But when the forested valleys were cleared, the farmland was much better down there. So entire villages moved down to the valley floor, leaving abandoned villages above. Ralph

I think the initial black death theories are correct for some of the villages, however the rest may well have been economic, the main things you keep on chalk are sheep, a drop in the prices of wool will have hit everyone in the area hard, without income the farmers don't spend money in subsidiary industries like the blacksmiths etc. Your culprit for the later abandonment here could be one industry villages. The medieval wool industry was in decline in the 16th century, the wool towns barely survived, the hamlets and villages on the chalk likely did not.

that video by Jack showed up in my feed months ago because of watching your videos! this is a perfect companion to Jack’s video and something i’m sure he’d approve of as i believe he’d utilize the same things that you used from sources to technology if he had them 40 years ago

Paul, this show is magnificent. Really, really magnificent.

This is the best history/archeological documentary I’ve seen since the old time team. (Before they tried to sexy time team up and ruined it). You’ve done a brilliant job on this video. It’s superb quality and obvious you put a huge amount of time into it.

I live in Dorset. My village church is surrounded by empty fields, and sits about a mile from the current village centre. The old village was abandoned during the plague, and the survivors resettled on the hill above the old village.

I can see why you enjoyed making this video, all the research, and on-the-ground exploring seem fascinating.

I appreciate ALL of the efforts you put into each of your presentations! Between travel, hiking miles on end, research, shooting, editing, plus any perils along the way, the quality shines every time.

That little chapel with the ruins adjacent and earth works behind, is one of the most fascinating locations i've ever seen. Just WOW. Keep up the great work guys. Brilliant channel.

My ancestors came from Tyneham, a village lost within living memory, but for very different reasons.

Thank you for doing this video. I've watched all the Jack Hargreaves videos I could find, and his theories about the black death certainly looks like a good working hypothesis. I did feel that it was a bit too clear-cut, too "comfortable" as the "smoking gun" behind the lost villages, but not being a historian meant to me that I would probably never have to opportunity to suss this out. So, this video from you and Rebecca definitely points in the right direction from my perspective, and more importantly it raises fresh questions on what really happened. Cracking video, and I'm so glad to see that I'm not the only "Jack Hargreaves Groupie"! :-D

Good Morning from Kansas!

I watched the Jack Hargreaves video a couple of months ago and it was an interesting viewpoint. On a completely different topic; when I read Pratchett's Tiffany Aching stories I always envisioned "The Chalk" looking like Dorset. It just fits.

From someone who has recently published a YT video on this very topic, I really do appreciate the effort you've put into this. Certainly more informative than my offering. Well done! I arrived at a similar conclusion, yes, the Black Death was responsible for many lost villages, but not all disappeared at the same time directly due to the pandemic. Some took many more years to disappear. Another major factor was the collapse of the Feudal system as the result of the Black Death. Land Owners lost their serfs (peasants), and had no one to work their land. Large settlements dwindled as a result, as the serfs moved to more urban settlements. Hence, several villages disappeared more slowly over the following 2 centuries. Many thanks for taking the time and effort to create and share, thoroughly enjoyable 👍

I have been watching Jack's old show so your show came up in my feed... finally the algorithm serves me :D

There is a Jack Hargreaves video about those lost villages "why 79 dorset villages vanished"

its interesting. over here in sussex there were 100s of villages scattered around what is now the West Dean Estate. The last remains of these are a hamlet of 3 houses called Hooksway, and a house & cottage in an area marked as Monkton, of which a chapel still remains. All this area was wiped out by the plague as well. A lot of the ancient tracks are still used by logging vehicles.

Paul: "I've been looking at abandoned villages" Rebecca: "in Dorset?" Paul: "yes, I'd recommend it to anybody"

This had me 'wow!' 'wow!' 'wow!' at every twist and turn. Much appreciated, on a few points. Opening up my eyes to one thing I find peculiar - the years of populace in England should have towns/villages all over the place and yet there are none. So you've solved that for me. The lovely appreciation of architecture over time - well worth the video watch alone. And the ohmygiddyaunt sneaky watching out for Rebecca in the back ground, whether it be by her shadow - filming, her wave in the window, her filming of you in the distance? Lovely editing, really lovely stuff. More of this wow, wow, wow, if you please Paul, just the way I like it!!

A most fascinating visit to the Dorset of the past. Pestilence in the cloak of the black plague wiped out entire villages. Families, livestock, and the like, but the stone constructions stood their ground. What a testament to those earlier times. The human race is resilient and shall never succumb in total to unforeseen anomalies that are hurled at us out of the blue. I know our future is secure. Thanks Paul!

Great video this week, thank you. I like Dorset. Shall show it to my sister who lives in Weymouth

I hope this is a new series along the lines of abandoned railways and canals. I can't visit the places that you feature (yet) so your videos are the next best thing. Please keep em coming!

Excellent work, Paul. You would love the deserted village of Wharram Percy, complete with ruined church, duckpond, and abandoned railway line. It's in the Yorkshire Wolds.

Exactly the same village abandonment happened on the South Downs in Sussex. It's also the same chalk geology. When the Black Death impacted in the 14th century it meant that many villages in the lowlands were also abandoned or severely depleted. Possibly the upland villages were abandonded because the survivors were able to occupy the the spare lowland where the ground is better irrigated and more fertile?

I grew up near Knowlton, in Wimborne Minster. So many tales about Knowlton Church and Knowlton rings. Apparently it was built on pagan land and over the years it is said that the church burnt down at least 2 or 3 times every time it was rebuilt Also that the yew trees at one end of the ring marked what used to be an alter. Dorset has the most amazing history! Thanks for a great video.

A fantastic mini documentary! Excellently researched and presented. My theory is that the Black Death hastened the demise of these villages but there were a number of waves of the plague in the 14th and 15th century. Chalk is not great for arable farming and it could be that the surviving villagers moved to the valleys. I think others have commented about the fall in the value of wool as well would have contributed to the villages declining

Wow, superb presentation Paul, I really enjoyed that, the whole tale was fascinating. The reason I love your stuff is because it's not a detailed documentary, just a bloke with an interest, going for a walk and taking us along. Great stuff.

A friend of mine mentioned plague villages of Dorset just a few weeks ago so the timing of this is interesting! I have lived in Dorset on and off for over 30 years. I’ve always thought Whitcombe just outside Dorchester must of been abandoned as only the Church remains…

My late mum knew Jack Hargreaves as she was a journalist and TV sort o' person, between him and Enid Blyton raving about the place she fought furiously to get moved to Dorset and after Fleet St collapsed she was given a place at Bournemouth University where she studied film and tv screen/scriptwriting mentored by Ridley Scott's brother Tony and "Harold" aka Ian Smith from Neighbours.

Outstanding Paul 👏🏻 Beyond TV worthy. I’ve shot Knowlton in just about every type of light, every weather, under stars and milky way - in the snow and spent many hours there alone. This video really brought those memories back and was so well put together. Excellent stuff my friend 👍🏻👍🏻

The Black Plague is a very complicated part of history. The 1346 to 1353 version is a go-to version, but there are other occurrences before and after (even up to a few years ago). Usually tied to atmospheric changes to favour a mix of dry weather and famine (natural variations or volcanic weather events). If leading into the 1300's there was a general 'drying' then chalk lands may have become unsuitable for cropping. Farmers know where the money is, and it isn't in dead fields.

My neck of the woods. I live not far from Hanford. I also see you have Milton Abbas on your list which was raised after the land owner decided he didn't want the village within the boundary of the house when Capability Brown was designing the gardens.

Every video is so informative, and you keep finding new things for me to say, “Wow, I never thought of / knew that”. Beautifully put together. Thank you for doing this, keeps me going during my post-op recovery!

You should come to Swanage, a town of 5 villages. Herston, Newton, Durlston, Ulwell, and Swanage. Much of of the growth of Swanage came from the quarrying of Purbeck stone, shipped nationally and globally. A lot of the growth happened in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, absorbing most of the small hamlets and villages mentioned earlier, forming the tourist destination Swanage would become in the early-mid 20th century. Due to it's stone quarrying history, Swanage has a lot of unusual features, shipped all the way from London (as ballast for the stone barges return trip) including the frontage for the town hall, the Wellington Clock Tower (which sat at the entrance to London Bridge), as well as a multitude of other features from various parks around London. It's a great town with a very rich history, with a bit of interest for every history buff

Interesting bit of history. I suppose we know well how they looked because so many others survived. Thanks for the Hargreaves link.

Some of knowlton church resembles the castle ruins at ludgershall , which as the crow flies is not a million miles away. Also, I worked at a farm in Durrington which had the earthworks of the original village of durrington which was abandoned during the plague. Cheers Paul, subbed on your quality content that puts some historical tv to shame 👍

Love Rebecca's ghostly image in the window waiving

It is really nice to see history related to my name, although my ancestors probably hailed from Kent. I really do want to visit Knowlton Church.

I cannot believe you are able to just travail over hills and dales ancient land and you don’t run into anyone else it’s my dream I’d love to do that..ah a leaf blower! It’s still magnificent Thankyou so much.

Great video Paul, Dorset is indeed a gem!

Great video as usual Paul, you should take a trip to Imber Village in Wiltshire, that was abandoned during WW2 to practise for the D-Day landings. Its in the middle of Salisbury Plain Military training area, but you can catch a double decker bus from Warminster, on bank holiday weekends :)

Thanks for picking up where Jack left off, great fun

Dear Paul & Rebecca. As I said in my comments on the Portland Video, we have spent several years researching the area, this is great stuff and certainly adds to the brilliant programme produced by Jack Hargreaves (still available on you tube). Dorset is packed with content. I will look through some of my stuff and send some additional Infor. Many Thanks.

You're such a talented narrator Paul. Thank you

This was a really very interesting video, you can learn so much from Landscape Archaeology, your research on this subject has certainly paid off. Look out for Roman or Medieval Monastic lumps and bumps. If you watched Time Team, you might notice that its always Stewart Ainsworth, the Landscape expert who saves the day!

The more I watch these excellent videos, the more I am convinced we live is a beautiful country. Thank you.

Great stuff- the time and effort you put into these videos is much appreciated ;)

Thanks Paul really enjoyed this and your efforts are very much appreciated

Absolutely fascinating. Dorset is a fantastic county. Please do more like this. Perhaps hill forts on the South Downs? One of my grandmother's, Gladys Abrahams was born in Melcombe Regis, I tried to find out a bit of her background but her family seemed to appear there from unknown location and undocumented. Maybe I have old ancestry in those abandoned villages? Or perhaps her family arrived from a Baltic state fleeing Russian pogroms (family name)? I suppose i shall never know.

Thanks Paul for a really fantastic video!

Once again, you have given the exiled anglophile his weekly dose of great joy. I've started to love Monday mornings!

Excellent video again. Imagine living through the great famine and the a big whammy the plague. Enough to make everyone run away x

a really cool interesting video again paul and rebecca , well done and thank you again guys 😊

Absolutely fascinating i lived near Dorchester

Misty Wolf below has hit the nail on the head. So often one reads accounts of why villages in England, (not necessarily just in Dorset), were abandoned at about time of the Black Death - during the mid 14th century. The reason, according to some historians, is that so many people died of the Black Death from 1348 onwards. Anything from 30% to 50% of the population. Many of those “survivors” of a village where a large number had died of the pestilence simply “up-sticks” and moved. Yes, that certainly happened - in some cases. But there were also many instances of medieval villages falling on economic hard times - for various reasons - which resulted in the surviving villagers moving elsewhere. The reason for abandoning the original settlement and founding a new village somewhere else, was not simply because of the Black Death. Economic hardship caused by a number of reasons made people leave. Simply put - the village would have “died” even if the Black Death had not descended - and people would have moved elsewhere!

Splendid tour and interesting reinterpretation of abandoned settlements now sitting in splendid isolation. Theories can provide a useful guide, but as I think, you correctly point out, each site requires separate investigation to account for patterns of human settlement/resettlement over historical time. Much to reflect on here. Thank you.

Very good Paul, here in Kent we have a few Plague Villages (Stelling and Dode spring to mind), however it was the law that any new Village was to be established 1 Statutory Mile from the old location. I recently watch the Jack Hargreaves program (Out of Town/Old Country??) which dealt with this very subject. He came to the conclusion that only a handful were reliably attributed to the Black Death and the rest to the end of the Feudal System, The Enclosure Act and the very start of the Industrial Revolution. That all said I really enjoyed your film (as ever) and your insights into the Church Architecture. More please, I love the railways, canals and old roads but this is as good. Thank you for making and posting.

Maybe someone else has said - but there's at least one time team on an abandoned village where all the theories are discussed. Speaking of which - I wish you had been their new presenter on the online episodes! Love your style mate. It's perfect.

Absolutely loved it, thanks so much. History is always great and we are never too old to learn. Thanks for taking me along. Please stay safe and take care

Your channel is so so good and your passion comes through so well. Please keep up the brilliant work!

The work and effort you put into these video's is amazing!! Thank you 👍

Excellent episode and a great modern addition to Jack's, your camera work is fabulous, stunning scenery. I spent a lot of time in Dorset before moving to Canada a few years ago and this brings back great memories as do most of your episodes. Great channel.

Always great videos.

Another interesting video Paul loved the content you put a lot of time and effort into it keep up your great work 👍👍

I love your videos. Thank you for all the work you do. One note: A church and a chapel were different. That is, the old chapel near the farm may have been a “chapel of ease”, where the priest would hold a mass on Sundays although his church was elsewhere, to allow far-flung parishioners to attend services without making a long trek from their homes. Chapels of ease usually lacked a tower and bells and were much simpler in design and decoration.

Fascinating and superbly edited. I can tell that you put a huge amount of work into it. Dorset is a wonderful place and you are right about the geology being important.

Great video. It's a phenomenon you see in many English counties where the churches are not near the villages, for many many reasons. The most obvious being the rich man built the church to encourage people to come and live in his village. They soon left when he started taxing them.

Fascinating. Totally what I am interested in. Thank you. Nice to see such a beautiful sunny day. Cheers

Local leaf blowing society, that blew my mind! Nice interesting video and some lovely old churches.

Nice video Paul and interesting, hard work there too with all the research well done and thank you.

Wow, some great scenery. And bit of a jaw drop when you say why...

Beautiful videography Paul!

Another interesting story and some wonderful pictures of the area of Dorset. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Fantastic and very interesting content Paul great research much have took a lot time and effort. Thank you for sharing.

wow thats some awesome research paul

Lovely and fascinating video. Thank you.

Brilliant video - loved the in-depth investigation of places that are unknown to many, and the various shots and clips were stunning.

Really great video. I liked the way you used aerial shots, maps and google earth along with your hiking commentary. Great editing too

A very interesting story. There are a few abandoned medieval villages over this way, but it seems Dorset has a particularly high number, for similar geography

Great film Paul, thanks.

a brilliant informative video as always of my favourite county. thank you so much 👍👍

Most interesting Paul ! Sunday nights are a bit special since I stumbled across your channel. Thanks

Great stuff Paul, lovely countryside, and interesting views, keep up the excellent work....

Brilliant as always

As an American, these videos make me very jealous of the chance to just wander around a field and walk into a piece of millennium-old stonework. While civilization here in the US is essentially as old as in Europe, masonry wasn't a common practice and there's something special about knowing you're standing in a building where lives were lived over many generations. Thanks for sharing your slice of history!

A lot of research gone into this, often the fun bit! Thanks for another fascinating look at a unique subject

Fantastic. Beautiful. Speechless.

You might want to consider the activities of the Barbary Pirates over that period along the Southern English coast seeing that they took possibly as many as a couple of million people to be slaves in North Africa and beyond.

Interesting video as always. Looks like you had some lovely walks to visit those churches.

Very enjoyable. Love the history. you and Rebecca do a great job.i am here in nh usa. Cannot wait for the next episode. Keep up the great work 👍

Great Video & Full Of Insight... Well Done..

I'm pretty certain that I've visited Knowlton. You guys do a fantastic job. Love your work!

Outstanding work.

Very professional and informative. Thank you.

So interesting. What a research you have done. Also you must have walked for miles. Thank you for showing us your explore. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

fantastic vid and thank you for your research and effort

That was incredibly interesting Paul, thank you!

Those were huge fireplaces for just a cottage (Lyscombe Farm), that was an important house in the area - probably the main farmhouse in that area for whomever owned the land at the time.

One of your best videos. Thank you.

amazing 👏 More of these please!! DMVs are fascinating