Wharram Percy Deserted Medieaval Village

The most famous and intensively studied of Britain's 3,000 or so deserted medieval villages, Wharram Percy occupies a remote but attractive site in a beautiful Wolds valley. Above the substantial ruins of the church and a recreated fishpond, the outlines of many lost houses are traceable on a grassy plateau.

First settled in prehistoric times, Wharram flourished as a village between the 12th and 14th centuries, before final abandonment in about 1500. Graphic interpretation panels tell its story,and recreate the original appearance of the buildings.

The village of Wharram Percy, in the Yorkshire Wolds, was continuously occupied for about 600 years, but by 1527 it was almost deserted, as a result of gradual abandonment and forced evictions. The ruined church is the last standing medieval building. Around it are the grassed-over foundations of two manor houses and about 40 peasant houses and their outbuildings. Since 1948 the settlement has been the focus of intensive research, which has made it Europe’s best-known deserted medieval village.