A fascinating walk through geographical spaces and times that have been abandoned, disappeared, declined or commandeered. Each chapter tells the story of one such settlement from prehistoric Skara Brae to the story of Capel Celyn drowned to supply water to the city of Liverpool in the 1950's.
Well researched yet is gripping to read the stories of real people and not just the towns and villages in which they lived and worked. Sometimes it read like a detective story as Matthew unravelled how these places came to be lost with great sensitivity when retelling people's stories.
It's a timely reminder of the ravages of time, economics, weather and nature - especially with our world right now.
A fascinating read.

Matthew Green's book is evocative, well researched and successfully captures a mournful elegiac tone.

I love a book that takes me completely by surprise. Shadowlands is a delightful and thrilling exploration of lost or forgotten places. I knew about Dunwich and Skara Brae. I learned so much about villages abandoned by plague and villages taken over for grazing. Each chapter is a revelation and reminded me of how nothing is permanent.

The Shadowlands – A Visit to Britain’s Lost Towns

Historian Matthew Green takes the reader on a lyrical but completely immersive historical tour of Britain’s lost towns and villages. He takes us on a visit of eight, lost places, lost in completely different way, but not forgotten. Green has managed to untangle the stories of what became ill-fated places, including Winchelsea which was lost to the sea.

These places were lost for many various reasons for me the most striking story is that in Chapter eight, which he calls the Village of the Damned. That being the village of Capel Celyn in Wales, a village lost due to man’s need for water resources. While as an urban historian I have recently been looking at how Manchester gained its water from the Lake District and its disregard for the locals. This story is far more poignant as this removal of the people, the village is now under a water reservoir serving the people of England. How Green rebuilds the human stories and their fight is so striking and meaningful.

Just as striking is the removal of people from the island of St Kilda in 1930 even though these islands had been inhabited for over a thousand years. How in August 1930 the people were evacuated from the island, how they closed the public services, held their last church service before drowning their dogs of the only pier on the island. This being one of many stories of violence that appears throughout the book, not as glorification but mournful.

As in many stories of lost Britain there is always a story about Dunwich, the town that was built on a cliff in Suffolk before finally falling into the sea as the cliff collapsed. The story of the Church bell still being heard ringing today, is a fanciful story and always has been, but it is always a nice story to be reminded of.

Green has really examined the archives and dug deep to recover and tell those stories. This seems to be a work of passion, an immersive love and retelling of forgotten histories. But then that is part of the job of a historian, to retell stories sometimes forgotten by most and package them in the easiest form for none historians to absorb.

This is an excellent book written by a social and cultural historian that has brought all his training and skill to bear.

Shadowlands are places that have vanished leaving only their traces behind. Historian Matthew Green, the author, sees them as ‘untenanted borderlands between places or states, typically represented as an abode of ghosts and spirits.’ In this book he explores and visits. 8 UK towns and villagse that have been lost or abandoned. These vary from a 5000 year old Neolithic settlement hidden by sand for centuries until it was uncovered by a 19th century storm, a deserted village called Wharram Percy which was decimated by the Black Death, a Suffolk coastal town which has now been virtually reclaimed by the sea, a Welsh village drowned in the 1950’s to provide more water for the city of Liverpool and a group of Norfolk villages requisitioned by the Army in the 1940’s for D Day landing training.
He visits each of them, even the requisitioned Norfolk villages, and he writes movingly of them and his thoughts on being on the actual sites, knowing their history and wondering about the people who actually lived there.
Skara Brae is the first one and it’s such an amazing story. There are 2 atmospheric photos of it in the book. One shows interiors – these were proper dwellings and people actually lived in them. There are several theories about the people who lived there and why they left after 400 years of continuous habitation. Jewellery was abandoned as was food in a cooking pot. We will never know why they left but Nature preserved their traces.
Another community that died out was on St Kilda. But they decided to voluntarily give up their way of life in 1930 when the last remaining 36 islanders left. Green describes their lives which seemed to centre on living off the local fulmar birds – killing up to 800 hundred at time. Tourism discovered the islanders in the 19th century and they played it for what it was worth. But the younger ones were already leaving or had already gone by the time the rest of them left after having drowned their dogs.
20 years ago, I visited one of the sites featured in the book. This was Dunwich, once a prosperous port, now virtually gone. I didn’t have much time, but I did visit the museum which was open and saw the ruins of Greyfriars. But sadly, I didn’t see the last tombstone from the churchyard, however the place made an impression on me. It inspired Henry James and other 19th century writers and ruins did attract other artists and writers. They also attracted antiquaries according to the author, as ruins were seen as picturesque which they often are. The author adds that they can also be seen as ‘memento mori.’
Green has done his research thoroughly as he reveals medieval battles for land and also the horrific statistics that 40% of England’s medieval population died from the Black Death. Green comments on it as being ‘God’s horror show’. These, and enclosures, contributed to the demise of at least 2 of the vanished places in this book. It was cheaper for a landowner to graze sheep that have a tenant farming it. And so these tenant farmers were evicted and they moved on somewhere else.
Who would have thought that wine was such a commodity in medieval life? It was extremely valuable especially in the now long gone Sussex town of Winchelsea. This was a lively town at one time with wine pirates and a plethora of wine cellars throughout the town. It was also a rotten borough and Deadman’s Lane is a record of a horrific massacre.
Although all 8 of the places that he visits are sad records of a vanished life, I felt that the most poignant were those taken over by the military and where, coincidentally, Dad’s Army was filmed. The villagers believed that they would return but the authorities claimed that no such assurance was ever given. Instead, the desolate houses have become over the years, Nazi, Soviet and Afghan villages. There is also the tragic case of Lucilla Reeve who attempted to farm near the site and ended up committing suicide as had 2 previous farmers.
Another one was the Welsh village, Capel Celyn, which was drowned to provide a reservoir for Liverpool. During severe droughts, the village re-appears and people can walk along its streets again. It is remembered as an example of English oppression. When Green visits the site, he finds a silent stretch of water and remembers the old tradition that birds will not fly over places of ghosts.
There is a coda at the end in which Green considers the future and climate change and the effect it might have on our cities.
I really enjoyed this book for its combination of social and cultural history and also how Green felt when visiting these sites and the effect that they had on him. Well researched and it threw interesting sidelights on these now deserted, vanished places.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC

A fascinating book, which made me want to visit some of the places mentioned. It really made me think about the impermanence of towns and villages, and how we can never assume that anything will remain for ever. Definitely a book I will be recommending.

Fascinating in most parts, a series of chapters on lost and abandoned settlements from different eras of history. Some such as St Kilda I had a fair amount of knowledge, others less so. At times a little too meandering - a variety of background information was welcome and added diversity, though in some cases there were several pages of general thoughts which didn't have immediate relevance.

I did find the writing style wearing at times, with purple prose and flourished descriptive text not just on the geographic areas, peoples and descriptions (which in itself would be OK), but on every other random sentence about anything. However getting past that to the meat of the book gives an interesting and evocative insight into abandoned places.

Fascinating, an absolute treat. This book is completely brimming full of detail and historical facts but not only that there are real testaments of human grit and determination and struggles against adversity. I found some of the stories entirely relatable and empathised greatly with the precarious relationship we have with nature and fate and how any of us could find ourselves in a struggle for survival. I loved the diversity of the individual stories and circumstances and this was truly eye opening. I think there is always a deep engrained mystery and intrigue about the disappearance of settlements and they tend to reach mythological status and this definitely didn’t disappoint in supplying all details and insights to quench this desire for knowledge. A must read and definite recommend from me.

I read this book out of a genuine interest in British history and especially those towns, cities and villages which were once part of our past and are no longer extant. I felt that the first chapter was a little heavy but it read like an academic epilogue; a lead up to the stories he had to tell. And that is where this book comes to life; in its stories.
It is so well-researched. I felt in awe of the author but was thankful for what it brought to the book. He prepares us with a geographical and botanical description of the place in question but it is in his social and economical storytelling that he really shines. I could list highlights but there are too many. My own personal favourite shadowlands were St. Kilda and Dunwich but all of them have merit as stories of real people in unique circumstances. I really enjoyed the book and would read more by this author. The villages affected by WW2 were an eye-opener for me; people did not get their homes back after they were sanctioned for 'military training zones' and that beggars belief. Some of them were born in those houses and it's shameful to think the government's initial promise to return the homes did not occur. Indeed, most of them still exist but are full of bulletholes with smashed windows and in various stages of destruction. The book is good in covering both truly ancient towns like Skara Brae but also more modern losses too and it adds contrast and also gives us a feel for the changing times. The Georgians visited St. Kilda and wrote philosophically about this strange island. The Victorians in their turn went there 'on a cruise trip', sending postcards back to friends. A fascinating read.

Shadowlands is an excellent read and very well written and researched. It took me a lot longer to read than I expected the fewer than 300 pages of actual book to take but it is so crammed full of facts and fascinating facts that it needs a good deep read. Quite emotional in places and maybe a bit overly poetic in others it tells the story of disappeared places and the reasons for those disappearances. Well worth reading if you are interested in the history of Great Britain and how some places managed to disappear from our map. With thanks to the publishers and the author, and to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of this title to read and review.

Shadowlands – Matthew Green

A poignant, historical and extremely interesting account of many of Britain’s ‘lost’ towns, cities, and more.
The level of research is quite stunning, as are the details given to the reader.

(Obviously), not a quick read, so settle in for the duration and prepare to be educated, moved and saddened by what is on offer here.

A real labour of love, for which Matthew Green must be congratulated for.

A fascinating account of some of the many British settlements lost to time.

Green's meticulous research takes us around the British Isles on a quest to uncover the history of villages, towns and even cities that are no more. While some settlements were abandoned due to isolation, plague, and political, ecclesiastical or military reasons, others succumbed to cliff erosion.

Up-and-coming author, and social historian, Matthew Green undertakes a personal journey through Britain’s lost places, the shadowlands of which only scant, mysterious traces survive. These sites tell stories of climate change; monumental shifts in ways of living; of war and conquest; devastating plague; and rumours of hellfire. His destinations include: Skara Brae, the haunting relics of an intriguing, neolithic settlement, found in the Orkney Islands, its outline exposed during the vicious storm of 1850; Trellech in Wales, possible medieval boom town and ongoing source of heated battles between its amateur excavator and entrenched academics; Wharram Percy the Yorkshire village whose demise was set in motion by the Great Death or Pestilence that spread across the world in the mid-fourteenth century; Dunwich gradually consumed by the sea, its ruins once a place of pilgrimage for writers such as Swinburne and Henry James; Capel Calyn in North Wales drowned in the 1960s to make way for a reservoir, a potent symbol of Welsh Nationalism and English oppression; and St. Kilda with its tragic history, so isolated it was used for banishments, its inhabitants once fuel for debates over the nature of “man”. It’s a meticulously-researched, frequently fascinating account, lucid, evocative, erudite but accessible. Matthew Green's book's a wonderful blend of social and cultural history that draws on a variety of sources from local records and interviews to art, myth and literature, but also looks forward to consider the future and what losses might be yet to come.

Shadowlands is a wonderful exploration of Britain's lost places and history. Green takes you on a journey through this landscape, turning his stories of lost places into a reflection of loss - geographic, historical and personal. The past has a lot to teach us, and the lessons of the forgotten becomes increasingly important. Green writes his expedition in poetic and lyrical style evoking a haunted landscape

I loved this poignant journey through a lesser explored part of Britain’s past. This is a carefully wrought pilgrimage through the lost settlements, towns and villages of Britain, from Black Death hamlets to economically crashed towns. If you’re someone who likes to look at a place and wonder what it was like a hundred years or more ago, then this is for you.

If we’re out on a walk in the countryside, I’m always fascinated if we come across a ruined cottage or hamlet. I wonder about the people who lived there, how they lived, why they left, and why the houses ended up abandoned and in ruins. So Shadowlands is a book that really appealed to me telling the story of how entire villages, towns and indeed cities disappeared over the years, and how they were rediscovered.

Matthew Green explains that abandonment or loss could have been because of changing climate and landscape, for political reasons, for socioeconomic reasons, because of human intervention or for reasons historians and archaeologists can only speculate about. And there has been plenty speculation about some of the sites, often controversial such as in the case of Trellech in the Welsh Marches.

Shadowlands was such an interesting book to read with its mixture of history of the era, the social history of how people lived at the time, the mix of theories and facts about what happened to the people who lived in the places which had vanished, and what we can learn for our times from what happened back then.

There was such a variety of places included in the book from places I’ve actually visited, such as Skara Brae on Orkney the, places I’ve heard of like St Kilda and places completely new to me like Wharram Percy in Yorkshire. The book is packed full of fascinating facts and written in a really accessible and compelling way. There is a coda section to the book which mentions places which may suffer similar fates to some of the towns in the book. I watched a short and sobering video on YouTube showing coastal erosion at Skipsea, situated on one of the fastest eroding coastlines not just in Britain but in Europe. It was scary to see how close to the edge some of the houses are and sad to think it is inevitable that before long, they too, will be lost to the sea. A similar situation is happening at Fairbourne in north-west Wales where rising sea levels and flooding threatens the village.

If, like me, you look at old abandoned, ruined cottages and think ‘I wonder…’, then this is a book for you.

Lyrical, moving and literary. A fascinating story of lost villages and towns and the reasons they were abandoned. There is a good mix, both in time and location and it makes you want to visit the areas described, just see see what's left of these vanished places. A good book to dip into.

Towns, villages and in one case an island that disappeared and the reasons for their disappearance. Immensely sad in places and immensely despicable in others, these are touching stories. Unfortunately the author, for various reasons, could have added more. For completeness I should point out there is also a section of the rediscovery of a lost settlement.

This is a lovely book, part detective book, part historic guide book. I enjoyed reading about the different lost places and thought there were a great spread, both historically and geographically: Skara Brae, Trellech, Winchelsea, Wharram Percy, Dunwich, St Kilda, Norfolk and Capel Celyn. The maps and illustrations really add to the book and it’s a fascinating reminder of the transient world around us.

Absolutely loved this exploration of disappeared places. The author not only retells the history of the missing villages but does so in such an evocative way. I now want to go to all of these places (or at least, where they used to be).