Below is a Timeline providing information on events at Tyneham over the centuries. It shows when ownership of Tyneham changed hands, when Tyneham House, Tyneham Church and Tyneham Rectory were built. It includes tragic events that claimed the lives of men from Tyneham and Worbarrow.
| Year | Mth/Day | Event |
|---|---|---|
| BRONZE AGE | ||
| c3000BC | Burial mounds are built on Povington Heath | |
| IRON AGE | ||
| c400BC | Flower’s Barrow hill fort is built on the cliff top above Worbarrow Bay | |
| 13TH CENTURY | ||
| 1297 | The original Tyneham Church is built | |
| 16TH CENTURY | ||
| 1563-1583 | Elizabethan main section of Tyneham House is built for Henry Williams | |
| 17TH CENTURY | ||
| 1641 | 34 men of Tyneham swear the Protestation Oath | |
| 1678 | Administration of the goods of Henry Miller | |
| 1683 | Nathaniel Bond buys Tyneham and Creech Grange | |
| 18TH CENTURY | ||
| 1707 | Nathaniel Bond dies – his son Denis Bond inherits Tyneham | |
| 1744 | Nave roof of Tyneham Church is covered with lead & other alterations made | |
| 1746/47 | Jan 30 | Denis Bond dies – his nephew John Bond inherits Tyneham |
| 1784 | May 30 | John Bond dies – son Rev. William Bond inherits Tyneham. He builds the South Transept at Tyneham Church for the exclusive use of the Bond family leaving the North Transept for the congregation. The seats become known as ‘the Cowstalls’ |
| 1784 | The smaller of the two bells at Tyneham Church is recast by R Wells of Aldborne | |
| 19TH CENTURY | ||
| 1831 | Reform Riots | |
| 1832 | South Transept of Tyneham Church is replaced with much larger one | |
| 1835 | James Galton, 53, agricultural labourer from Worbarrow is convicted of smuggling | |
| 1841 | Jun 7 | 1841 Census: total population of parish=250 |
| 1851 | Mar 30 | 1851 Census: total population of parish=276 |
| 1852 | Mar 5 | Rev. William Bond dies – son Rev. Henry Bond inherits Tyneham |
| 1853 | Village Tap built | |
| 1860 | Tyneham School is built | |
| 1861 | Apr 7 | 1861 Census: total population of parish=272 |
| 1865 | Mar 4 | Five coastguard men from the Coastguard Station at Worbarrow drown |
| 1871 | Apr 2 | 1871 Census: total population of parish=269 |
| 1872 | A harmonium replaces the barrell organ at Tyneham Church | |
| 1874 | May 21 | Three coastguard men from the Coastguard Station at Worbarrow drown |
| 1875 | Sep 27 | Rev. Henry Bond dies at South Petherton – W.H. Bond inherits Tyneham |
| 1876 | Tyneham Rectory is built | |
| 1880 | South porch at Tyneham Church is removed and rebuilt as west porch | |
| 1881 | Apr 3 | 1881 Census: total population of parish=275 |
| 1882 | Alfred Dawson sketches Tyneham House | |
| 1883 | Dec 25 | The Great Western Railway’s paddle steamer South of Ireland hits the rocks off Worbarrow Bay in fog and is holed. Fortunately all lives are saved. |
| 1886 | Jun 19 | Three coastguard men from the Coastguard Station at Worbarrow drown |
| 1891 | Apr 5 | 1891 Census: total population of parish=260 |
| 1898 | Rev. John Bond dies | |
| 1899 | Dec 10 | Tyneham heir Algernon Bond is severely injured in a sortie during ‘The Siege of Ladysmith’ in the Boer War |
| 20TH CENTURY | ||
| 1901 | Mar 31 | 1901 Census: total population of parish=238 |
| 1902 | Mr & Mrs W.H. Bond present Tyneham Church with a new pipe organ as a thank-offering for the recovery of their son “Algy” (Algernon) | |
| 1910 | The Coastguard Station at Worbarrow is disbanded | |
| 1910 | Sheepleaze Cottage is built on the cliffs at Worbarrow | |
| 1910 | An oak tree is planted to commemorate the coronation of King George V | |
| 1911 | Apr 2 | 1911 Census: total population of parish=209 |
| 1911 | Jun 13 | Algernon Bond dies of malaria in Calcutta, India |
| 1914-1918 | THE GREAT WAR | |
| 1915 | Aug 21 | Private Bertie Taylor is killed in action aged 21 |
| 1915 | Dec 8 | Private Henry (“Harry”) Holland is killed in action aged 27 |
| 1916 | Feb 26 | Private William Meech is killed in action aged 28 |
| 1916 | Nov 13 | Private John Holland is killed in action aged 21 |
| 1917 | The Ministry of Defence acquires land at Lulworth and commences live firing | |
| 1917 | Oct 20 | Private Henry George Balson is killed in action aged 38 |
| 1917 | Nov 2 | Private Charles Job Cleall is killed in action aged 27 |
| 1921 | Jun 19 | 1921 Census: total population of parish=196 The Census Enumerator had the initials HJH and so is likely to have been Herbert John House. |
| 1923 | Jun 16 | William Mintern,15 and his cousin Ernest Percy Rose, 23 drowned in Worbarrow Bay |
| 1924 | Oct | The new Wooden Village Hall is formally opened |
| 1929 | Dec | Wooden Village Hall is destroyed in gales |
| 1929 | The public telephone box is installed in Post Office Row | |
| 1931 | 1931 Census: total population of parish=165 | |
| 1932 | Mar 24 | Tyneham School closes because of the ‘small number of pupils’ |
| 1935 | Jan 11 | W.H. Bond dies – son Ralph Bond inherits Tyneham |
| 1937 | Aug 10 | Schoolboy Roderick Maurice Fitzgerald ffrench-Mullen aged 13 killed after being thrown from horse at Worbarrow |
| 1939-1945 | WORLD WAR 2 | |
| 1940 | Ralph Bond forms the Tyneham Home Guard | |
| 1940 | Jul 11 | Messerschmitt Me110 crash-landed on Povington Heath. The two-man German crew became the first prisoners of the ‘Battle of Britain’ |
| 1941 | Radar Station is built on a ridge above Egliston Gwyle | |
| 1941 | The RAF requisitions Tyneham House as an administration centre for the radar station at Brandy Bay | |
| 1943 | Nov 16 | The parishioners are served with Notice of Eviction from Major General C H Miller of Southern Command |
| 1943 | Dec 19 | The Military take-over: All residents are evacuated |
| 1944 | Feb 25 | Able-Seaman Charlton Holland is killed when a German U-Boat sinks HMS Mahratta |
| 1944 | Dec 29 | Allied convoy TBC 21 is attacked by German U-boat U-772 in the English Channel, 50°28´N, 02°28´W. The freighter Black Hawk is torpedoed and the blast wounds four (one of whom died later). The survivors were taken on board HMS Dahlia and the ship abandoned. The stern |
| 1947 | Dec | Government publishes White Paper ‘Needs of the armed forces for land for training and other purposes’ |
| 1948 | Mar | Sir Cecil Oakes chairs Public Inquiry at Masonic Hall in Wareham |
| 1950 | May | It had been intended to open the road to Worbarrow Bay to the public. Confirmation was given that Tyneham House had be hit once and the church twice. |
| 1952 | Compulsory Purchase Order made on Tyneham House | |
| 1952 | Feb 10 | Ralph Bond dies |
| 1956 | Lilian Bond publishes “Tyneham A Lost Heritage” | |
| 1966 | Fire destroys Tyneham Rectory | |
| 1967 | Dec | Rodney Legg publishes the first issue of Dorset County Magazine which kick-started the ‘Surrender Purbeck’ campaign |
| 1968 | May 18 | Tyneham Action Group is formed with Philip Draper as chairman and Rodney Legg as honorary secretary |
| 1969 | May 22 | Deputation from Tyneham Action Group received by M.O.D. in London |
| 1969 | Tyneham Action Group publishes “Fight for Tyneham” | |
| 1970 | Prime Minister Edward Heath announces Lord Nugent is to chair a Defence Lands Committee to explore which parts of the M.O.D estates could be returned to private ownership | |
| 1971 | May 21 | Rodney Legg, ‘founder and instigator’ of the Tyneham Action Group, condemns its ‘ill-conceived’ policies |
| 1972 | Rodney Legg forms rival organisation with the name ‘The 1943 Committee’ – it publishes its ‘Blueprint for Tyneham’ | |
| 1972 | Aug 28 | The 1943 Committee attends a Protest Rally in Tyneham car park |
| 1973 | Jul 5 | Lord Nugent publishes Defence Lands Committee Report |
| 1973 | Jul 5 | Rodney Legg establishes ‘Friends of Tyneham’ |
| 1974 | The Government provides £10,000 to create a car park and safe paths | |
| 1975 | Sep 5 | Lulworth Range Walks formally opened by Colonel Sir Joseph Weld |
| 1977 | Mar 30 | Scheme to appropriate the redundant Tyneham Church as a rest and exhibition centre confirmed |
| 1979 | First service held at Tyneham Church in 36 years | |
| 1992 | Rodney Legg publishes “Tyneham Dorset’s Ghost Village” | |
| 1995 | Patrick Wright publishes “The Village That Died For England” | |
| 21ST CENTURY | ||
| 2000 | Millennium Oak Tree planted in churchyard | |
| 2003 | Dec 21 | 60th Anniversary Carol Service held at Tyneham Church . Former residents invited to see completed refurbishment of church including exhibition boards |
| 2007 | Dr. Andrew Norman publishes “Tyneham: A Tribute” | |
| 2007 | Nov: The Army launches its Tyneham Farm project | |
| 2008 | Tyneham Farm renovated and re-opened to the public | |
| 2009 | R J Saville publishes ‘Tyneham in Purbeck’ | |
| 2012 | The K1 Mark 236 Telephone Kiosk is renovated | |
| 2012 | Nov 11 | Service of Remembrance held at Tyneham Church |
| 2014 | Robert Westwood publishes ‘The Tyneham Story‘ | |
| 2016 | Gordon Lewis publishes ‘Tyneham with Worbarrow: Then & Now‘ |
Page last updated: 10 March 2024