Genealogy Chat

Are there such things as villages in the UK that were there for a time then disappeared? I know this happened in other countries but not sure on UK. I have a couple of instances were I have a census return place of birth for example and when I have looked for the village on a modern map it does not seem to be there anymore!! If this did happen how can I find out where the place once was??

Yes lots of villages disappear.. Many during times of plague - you can often see a derelict church building in the middle of a field with no apparent community to serve. Even in the last world war in forest/heaths and moors villages were evacuated so they could be used for war/weapons practice.

One is Drayton (also listed as Drayton-in-Hales) in either Staffs or Shrops (difficult to read). The other is Euntingdon, Sussex Heather - thanks for the info. Are there old maps or other clues to look out for to get an idea where the places might have been?

What census images are these, the Sussex name doesnt seem right somehow.

The Sussex one might be a bad example (appears on US census). Drayton though I have seen a few times in census pages sent to me by my cousin and a couple of other people I have been in contact with.

Sometimes village names evolve (quite substantially, sometimes). Also, county boundaries have moved on several occasions to embrace - or disembrace - towns or villages. There's a Drayton Bassett in Staffs, south of Tamworth; and a Drayton Manor Park nearby. A Drayton Lodge in Shropshire - but it's an individual building north of Shifnal. I found those using the OS Gazetteer - and OS Get-a-map. Christine

There is a Funtington in West Sussex,I think more likely . Kim

Yes they do. Some technically disappear, but actually don't. For example, if you see a church alone but half a mile away are the houses, it's likely that the village has simply moved. Houses between church and village were abandoned, burnt down etc and eventually disappeared. However, the existing village may well have been counted as a 'different' village, sometimes with a different name, because it's in a different place.

Euntingdon definitely sounds like a misreading to me! Quite a lot of my ancestral villages (especially in Cornwall) seem to be deserted, but they are still on the map. nell

Hi Angela Drayton in Hales is now part of Market Drayton in Shropshire. I used to work in Market Drayton, which is how I know. I must admit, I cannot find Drayton in Hales actually marked on a map, but if you go to the following site http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/Drayton/Drayton.html its workhouse is mentioned. Tina

I did a hit on multi map and got 7 Draytons 2 in oxford, 1 in norfolk,lincoln,worcester,somerset, portmouth. There is also one in the USA. That is beside the ones that have a prefix

Brighton used to be called something else.

Dunwich in Suffolk has literally been drowned by the sea. there's also a village on Salisbury Plain that was evacuated and taken over by the army for target practice. If you look at old maps of the area you will see aproximately where 'disappeared' villages once stood. maggie

I think some of the old Colliery villages in Northumbria/Durham were abandoned as the seams ran out or became uneconomic to mine. Perhaps some country areas became less fertile because of overuse so the whole village moved away.

Brighton used to be Brighthelmstone! - just checked on Google. Christine

The village of Charlton, Gloucestershire was destroyed in the 1950's to extend the runway at Filton, as a longer runway was needed for the 'Bristol Brabazon'. Ironically this aircraft was not a success, but the runway is now one of the longest in the country.

Yes I have had this problem too. I have one ancestor born in "Little Randall, Lincolnshire". The writing is quite clear on two censuses so I have no doubt that this was the correct name. It doesn't seem to exist now but was near Louth Lincolnshire.

I would add that some small hamlets dont appear on maps. I used to live in a Hamlet which consisted basically of 4 houses and a farm. It never appeared on any maps except ordnance survey. I just googled Lost Villages and it came up with pages of stuff for different counties - worth you checking them.

Thanks for all the fabulous tips and stories, now I realise that I am not going mad and places can 'disappear' for a number of reasons. Hope this was helpful for others too!

Being a new chum from the other side of the world I find this thread fascinating,particularly as most of our research seems to start off in a village from long ago. I recently came upon a website which may be of interest. www(.)ancestral(-)villages(.)co(.)uk. Hope this helps towards another giant step in our quest. Judy (NZ)