Of ruins and revenants

Across Britain, hundreds of once-thriving medieval settlements were abandoned for reasons ranging from disease to economic collapse.

- Connie Rout

Wharram Percy is one of the best-preserved of Britain's deserted settlements - yet, even after decades of academic study, it still feels like a hidden secret. First you must descend an ancient track deep within the Yorkshire Wolds; only then can you find the medieval road leading to the heart of this long-abandoned village. Today, a tumbledown church dating from the 12th century is the last standing structure of medieval origin. Cows graze where peasant longhouses once stood, and the waters of a shimmering millpond are ruffled only by damselflies and birds.

At the turn of the 14th century, though, Wharram Percy was home to around 200 residents. Follow a path between its earthwork remains and you can imagine how it might once have looked at its peak, under the governance of the influential Percy family. Interpretative boards dotted around the site show how its layout and buildings changed over the centuries.