Across England, there are over two thousand deserted medieval villages – known as DMVs. Some of them have left only a ghostly imprint in the landscape, barely visible to the naked eye. While others have been completely erased. So, what happened? Why did these people leave? These are places that would have been known to the Knights Templar but subsequently vanished. Let’s go rediscover them!
Finding the Deserted Medieval Villages
In 1968, two intrepid souls – Maurice Beresford and John Hurst – set out to document as many deserted medieval villages as they could find. They listed a truly impressive 2,263 DMVs. In fact, there are well over three thousand of these vanished communities. Here are some examples we know about.
Among the most famous DMVs is Wharram Percy – which has some incredible remains including a church where half the spire, from top to bottom, has tumbled down. How the other half is still standing baffles me! But the main cause of its fame is the alleged presence of medieval vampires.
A study by Historic England and the University of Southampton found that the medieval villagers, during the Templar period, mutilated, decapitated, and burned recently deceased neighbours. The bones dated from the 11th to 13th centuries and the theory is that the people of Wharram Percy thought they were dealing with revenants. Put another way – they believed their local cemetery was full of zombies.
Wharram Percy is still a bit visible. Other DMVs have not been so lucky. Stanway, for example, has gone completely. The remains of this village are now under Colchester Zoo while a bit of the church is above ground, away from the giraffes and lions. I love the names of some of the other lost villages: Snoreham; Thunderley; Wickham Bishops; Lark Stoke; Manless Town; Burnt Norton; Ozleworth; Sezincote, etc.
So – why were they deserted? Brutal economics is one big reason. Medieval England was dotted with thousands of villages populated by serfs working for the barons in their castles but also small plots of land for their own subsistence. But in the 15th century, ruthless landowners began ‘enclosing’ the land. They kicked villagers out and created bigger farms. Why? One word: wool. The price of this commodity was booming and the rural rich wanted sheep on their land – not people.
Villages were abandoned and left to rot. Commonly owned land became private property. Small farmers became unemployed vagrants forced into the expanding cities to find work or beg. This was the first chapter in the development of a capitalist economy in England. And one of the results of this were the proliferation of DMVs.
If you would like to know more about the Knights Templar, then get your hands on a copy of my book: The Knights Templar – History & Mystery. Published by Pen & Sword and available on Amazon, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, and WHSmith. Don’t miss out on your copy!
