A village lost in nineteen forty-three,
Through orders to assist our land in war.
A diaspora of community:
Unprecedented act of English law.
Villagers of Tyneham and Worbarrow
Expected to come home within the year ...
Tragedy of deep and lasting sorrow,
Forbidden to return to all things dear.
The homes, and shop and school room look bereft
Abandoned and yet still preserved in time.
A military sanctioned act of theft
A church where one expects a bell to chime.
And yet one feels the spirits are here still:
An act of faith that trumps the bitter pill
Tyneham is a village in Dorset, in the west of England, which was evacuated by the military during World War Two. The villagers were made to leave on 17th December 1943 and were told they would soon be able to return. That never happened and the village has remained frozen in time.