Introduction

Wharram Percy is the most famous and intensively studied example in England of a 'Deserted Medieval Village.'

The earthworks of the lost village at Wharram Percy can be clearly seen from the air © English Heritage Photo Library Between 1950 and 1990, large parts of the former settlement were excavated by volunteers, directed by the historian Maurice Beresford and the archaeologist John Hurst (1927-2003).

Excavations and documentary research showed that Wharram Percy originated as a village at some stage between the 10th and 12th centuries. It flourished from the 12th to the 14th centuries, despite suffering losses in the Black Death of 1348-9. The village’s final decline came in the later 15th century, probably through forced eviction of its inhabitants by the Hilton family, who wished to turn the former village into pasture for sheep. The last four families were removed between 1488 and 1506.

Though the site contains standing 18th-century farm cottages and the ruins of the medieval church of St Martin, the sites of many other buildings can be traced either as excavated footings or as ditches and banks, especially the buried footings of chalk-stone walls. Though the annual excavations at Wharram ceased in 1990, the study of these visible remains continues to the present day.