Abandoned British ghost towns left to rot

Frozen in time

With its rich and long history, spanning everything from ancient settlements to the world wars, Great Britain is dotted with abandoned communities that are windows into the past. From empty mining towns and deserted military bases to ruined medieval hamlets and depopulated villages, we've rounded up the most haunting ghost towns in England, Scotland and Wales.

Read on to discover Britain's best abandoned towns and villages. To enjoy these images on a desktop computer FULL SCREEN, click on the icon at the top right of the image...

Dunwich, Suffolk, England

Nicknamed 'Britain’s Atlantis', Dunwich was a thriving medieval port on the Suffolk coast. Dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, it stood as the capital of the Kingdom of the Eastern Angles (now known as East Anglia) and was one of the largest towns in the country.

By the 11th century, Dunwich was one of the greatest ports on the east coast as well as a religious hub, home to several large churches and monasteries. At its peak, the town grew wealthy from trade, ship-building and its impressive fishing fleet.

Dunwich, Suffolk, England

Over the years, several violent storms are thought to have caused much of the village to be destroyed and then submerged by the North Sea. Most residents left the town and today all that remains of Dunwich are the hauntingly beautiful ruins of a 13th-century Franciscan friary, perched on the edge of a cliff, and the chapel of a medieval leper hospital. Today, the area is home to a tiny village of just 120 people, with a museum dedicated to the town’s history.

Boreraig, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Situated in a remote spot on Scotland’s rugged Isle of Skye, the ghostly ruins of this coastal village are a reminder of a brutal and heartbreaking part of Scottish history. Boreraig was cleared of its residents in the 1850s by wealthy landowners to make way for sheep, a widespread process known as the Highland Clearances. Families were forced to leave their homes, with some tenants even burning the roofs of cottages to ensure the villagers wouldn’t come back.

Boreraig, Isle of Skye, Scotland

After the nearby farmland was abandoned in the early 20th century, all that is left of Boreraig are a few collapsed stone houses and buildings. Weathered and worn down, the village is eerily beautiful, and its derelict buildings form part of a popular hiking trail. Boreraig’s remains include a grass-topped church, a mix of stone houses and piles of grey rock chipping from the old Marble Quarry.

Tyneham, Dorset, England

Often referred to as 'Dorset’s lost village', with its well-preserved houses and streets, Tyneham looks as if it were frozen in time. In December 1943, the charming village was taken over by the army for training during World War II and its residents were given a month to leave. What was thought to be a temporary evacuation became permanent when a compulsory purchase order was made by the army after the war, and the villagers were never allowed to return.

Tyneham, Dorset, England

With its out-of-control plants, roofless stone cottages and everyday objects left behind, the time capsule village has become a popular attraction for ghost town fans. Although still used by the military, parts of Tyneham are now open to the public on most weekends and public holidays. Notable features include an old phone box, a school building complete with intact workbooks and postcards all over the village detailing the stories of former residents.

Hallsands, Devon, England

Ravaged by the elements, just a few crumbling ruins remain of Hallsands, a small fishing village on the south Devon coast. Disaster struck the tiny village on 26 January 1917 when a brutal storm caused extremely high tides and powerful winds to surge across the coastal ridge, flooding houses and buildings and submerging them in ice-cold water. By midnight four houses had gone, and the village's inhabitants had packed their bags and fled to the nearby cliffs.

Hallsands, Devon, England

Around 29 houses had been destroyed in just 24 hours, along with the livelihoods and belongings of the entire village. The tragedy was caused by the removal of large amounts of shingle from the nearby coast to enlarge Plymouth Docks before World War I, which had protected Hallsands from the water. Parts of some houses and the old chapel have survived as a haunting testament to the power of the sea, but visitors have to see the remains from a viewing platform as erosion has made accessing the village dangerous.

Hirta, St Kilda, Scotland

One of the most remote parts of the British Isles, St Kilda is a volcanic archipelago lying off the western coast of Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. St Kilda consists of four rugged islands – Hirta, Soay, Borerary and Dun, with Hirta being the largest. Between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago Hirta was first settled by humans who created a self-sufficient civilisation – the only settlement on the four islands.

Hirta, St Kilda, Scotland

Island life was difficult and isolated, and the last few inhabitants abandoned Hirta for the mainland in the 1930s, leaving it deserted. Today, fragments of settlement can be found dotted across Hirta, offering glimpses into the lives of its former residents.

The archipelago is now home to the largest colony of Atlantic puffins in the UK. With its unique natural and cultural properties, St Kilda became a dual UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986 – the only one in the UK with mixed world heritage status.

Wharram Percy, East Yorkshire, England

One of the largest and best-preserved medieval villages in Britain, Wharram Percy sits in a remote valley in the Yorkshire Wolds. Probably founded in the 9th or 10th centuries and recorded in the 11th-century Domesday Book as 'Warran', the village flourished between the 12th and early-14th centuries.

Its name stems from the prominent noble Percy family who owned the area and lived there. Wharram Percy was continuously occupied for six centuries before it was deserted in 1500, after the last few families were evicted to make room for sheep pasture.

Wharram Percy, East Yorkshire, England

Today, the only medieval building left standing is the spooky ruined church. The grassed-over foundations of two manor houses and around 40 peasant houses and their outbuildings are also slightly visible. Since 1948 Wharram Percy has been the focus of intense research, which has earned it a reputation as the best-known deserted medieval village in Europe.

Check out these amazing ruins where Mother Nature has run riot

Imber, Wiltshire, England

Imber on Salisbury Plain is another eerie village whose fate was sealed by the arrival of the military. In 1943, the Military of Defence evacuated Imber’s small community, giving them just 47 days notice to find somewhere new to live to make way for a training ground for American troops. After the army bought the village and the surrounding land, Salisbury Plain became the largest military training ground in the UK.

Imber, Wiltshire, England

The situation was thought to be short-term, but after the war ended residents were sadly unable to return and Imber was permanently taken over by the military. Today, the village is deserted, a shell of its former self, although its abandoned buildings are still used for training purposes. The village remains mostly closed, but opens temporarily to the public on certain days of the year.

Tide Mills, East Sussex, England

The weather-beaten stone houses of this former corn mill village in East Sussex can be traced back hundreds of years. Tide Mills was founded in the 1760s after the Duke of Newcastle permitted three West Sussex corn merchants to build a tidal mill and dam, and the village grew up around it. The mill operated for over 100 years before closing in 1883, but the village lived on.

Tide Mills, East Sussex, England

Due to poor living conditions, Tide Mills was deemed unliveable in 1937 and those who refused to leave were forcibly removed. By 1940 it was left empty, and the majority of its buildings have since been demolished.

Not much of the derelict village remains except a few crumbling house foundations, flint walls and three well-preserved arches located underneath the mill. Nature has since reclaimed much of the area, with plants crawling over stones and birds nesting in nearby fields.

Samson, Isles of Scilly, England

Rugged and remote, Samson is the largest uninhabited island in the Isles of Scilly. Steeped in history, the island takes its name from Saint Samson of Dol, supposedly one of the founders of the Kingdom of Brittany, who visited the string of islands during the 6th century. Samson was inhabited by farmers and fishermen until 1855 when Augustus Smith, the Lord Proprietor of the islands, decided to remove its small population, who were on the brink of starvation, and relocate them to other islands.

Samson, Isles of Scilly, England

Today, Samson is home to more prehistoric sites per acre than any of the other islands. Numerous ruins cover the landscape including ancient burial grounds, roundhouses, 19th-century cottages and graves. Although now completely deserted, Samson has been part of a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1971 thanks to its unique biological characteristics – particularly the colonies of seabirds that now call it home.

Hallaig, Isle of Raasay, Scotland

Sadness seems to hang in the air over the ragged ruins of Hallaig, another Scottish village that was a victim of the Highland Clearances. Perched on the Isle of Raasay, it was a vibrant and tight-knit community until the 1850s, when the village was cleared and its population was forcibly removed so the area could be used for sheep farming. Hallaig sadly never recovered, and its desolate remains are a reminder of the long-lasting effects of this brutal event.

Hallaig, Isle of Raasay, Scotland

The deserted town rose to fame after the Gaelic poet Sorley MacLean wrote Hallaig, a poem inspired by the abandoned village, as some of his relatives were affected. The poem became MacLean’s best-known work, and he is now considered one of the great Scottish poets of the 20th century. The haunting ruins stand as a harrowing symbol for thousands of displaced people.

Cwmorthin, Gwynedd, Wales

Hidden away within a valley in Gwynedd are the remnants of this old mining village. At its peak during the 19th-century slate rush, Cwmorthin housed several working-class families who joined the farming community that had lived in the area for many years previously. It is thought that some sort of community has existed here from as early as the 11th century.

Cwmorthin, Gwynedd, Wales

Following the decline of the slate industry, by the 1940s the Victorian town was abandoned. Now all that’s left of Cwmorthin are a few decrepit cottages, old quarry buildings and a farmhouse. Set against a beautiful valley backdrop overlooking a sparkling blue lake, the tranquil Cwmorthin is a mystical sight, popular with walkers.

Mardale Green, Cumbria, England

In August 1935, the parishioners at Mardale Church, in the Cumbrian village of Mardale Green, sat through one final service before packing their bags and leaving their homes for the last time. The church was demolished shortly afterwards, with the bodies in the graveyard exhumed and reburied elsewhere, along with houses, farm buildings and the village pub. The remnants were then deliberately flooded – part of a plan to provide water to nearby cities via the Haweswater Reservoir.

Mardale Green, Cumbria, England

Today, the remains of the demolished village reappear every few years when water levels in the reservoir are low – usually thanks to drought or during other periods when water is in high demand. The ruins of the old church, the outline of streets and houses, and a 17th-century bridge can all be clearly made out. This photo of an exposed road was taken in 2018.

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