A deserted Medieval village on the Yorkshire Wolds - Wharram Percy

Hidden in a field a good half a mile walk from the nearest road is a fascinating glimpse into our medieval past - Wharram Percy Deserted Medieval Village

Located on the Yorkshire Wolds, not far from the town of Malton, Wharram Percy presents an intriguing historic site and opens up questions like: why was a whole village abandoned?

I visited this English Heritage site with my fiancée back in Summer 2018. We arrived at the car park mid afternoon, having been for a trip to the lovely Kirkham priory earlier that day. We weren't sure what to expect really. I was desperate to see the site, having a passion for the medieval period - especially for the lower classes of the time - but was unsure if it would be fully worth the trip.

On the walk down the hill to the site we past an older couple heading back up (safe to say we were glad we were going down the steep hill rather than climbing up, especially as it was a hot and muggy day). We exchanged greetings with the passing couple and as we did so they noticed that I was clutching onto a guidebook for the site, which I had picked up at Kirkham some hours before. On seeing it they asked to have a look - "You'll probably get more out of it than we did." the gentleman of the two remarked. They had just left the site but didn't have the guide book. They had a quick flick though and enjoyed the aerial photos with in and grabbing a few choice bits of information, before handing the book back to us and setting off up the hill.

We carried on down, along a medieval track, to the site and on arriving first came across a less than medieval building - a Victorian farm house. Not what we were expecting but still great to see. These buildings were occupied until the 1970s when they were abandoned, later being used as accommodation for archaeologists.

Moving past the farm house we arrived at the ruined church. This lovely building has been here since around 1050, although it has been much expanded and adapted since then. Although a ruin now the church had been used up until the 1920s and still had a roof until 1974, when the decision was made to remove it before it caused more damage to the building.

Carrying on past the church we found the old Mill Pond - sadly no mill remains but the pond creates a wonderful spot to wander and get great views across to the Church (see the first image in this post).

Past the Mill Pond we headed up a slope to find the deserted village, now basically fields with intriguing humps and bumps. There was a herd of rather large cows in the field and at sight of us humans obviously decided it was feeding time as they started to move at a pace towards us. Luckily, as they got nearer, they stopped and simply watched us - they must have realised we weren't the farmer.

Wandering around the fields it was fascinating to find the earthworks and tell tail features that indicate there once was a settlement here. It was at this stage that the guide book definitely came into its own. There were plenty of information boards too but having the guide book with its aerial images, site plans, reconstruction images and more detailed explanations really helped to bring the site to life. I fear that without it we may have been leaving somewhat confused, much like the elderly couple we met on the way down.




My fiancée is never as bothered about ruins and archaeological humps and bumps, she prefers stately homes and museums, but I love them. I really enjoy using my imagination and feeling like I am treading in the footsteps of our ancestors - the people just like you and me. Don't get me wrong though, I love a good stately home and museum too!

It soon came time for us to leave, much like the original tenants of the village did some 500 years ago. We were leaving as there was ominous clouds looming and it was getting late in the day (plus we had, had a good look round) but why was it that the medieval tenants left?

Well, the answer is complicated - best you visit the site and have a good read of the guidebook to discover all the varied reasons for decline and eventual abandonment, but the final blow was the rising profitability of the wool trade. As the trade became profitable many landowners turned previously arable land over to sheep graving. This meant that many of the tenant farmers were either evicted or moved on, spelling the end of Wharram Percy.

So in summary; although difficult to make out some of the features here the handy information boards, and the guide book if you manage to purchase one before visiting (like we did), will certainly help to bring the site to life.

It's free and well worth a visit, but make sure to take your imagination with you as you will need it to picture how this village might once have looked.