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An exceptionally well-made film! The highest professional standards have been reached. You have gone way beyond the average KZfaq video. Frankly, this is the sort of quality that we used to expect from BBC2 and Channel 4, before they became bogged down with panel games and "Reality T.V." Thank you so much for putting in this effort. It is important work and tells part of the story of our country. Tremendous.

Hands up if you think these guys should get an actual T.V show doing archaeology akin to time team ?!

Snap - I grew up on Upper Upham Farm - Wiltshire Man did a story about this village on his channel some years ago. As a kid I used to walk round there. I was always amazed by the water pump. Seeing you walk around where I grew up is so surreal. I lived at No 6 Summerdale Cottages - back in 1970 Yes, this format works well.

England's history is SO interesting!

Hay Paul, farmer Jim here, gotta chuckle at you testing the fence! How to test a fence: 1; Stand on one leg, this halves your conductivity ( pain ! ) 2; Do NOT nancy around dabbing at the wire, that really hurts, instead grab it swiftly and firmly and keep your hand clenched till you've ascertained if its live or not . Will be a pulse lasting a millionth of a second every 1.2 seconds ( 50/min). If you're not game for that try a blade of grass. Get a piece 100mm or longer and hold the tip on the wire, as you hold the other end. Then slowly move closer to wire. At some point you'll feel a small tick which gets stronger the shorter the gap between the wire and your fingers.

Can defiantly tell that been a lot of care, time and effort gone into this video than a rushed weekly video. Really enjoyed it, epic video Paul

If this is what we get when you get to take that little bit more time over it rather than doing a weekly video, I'm all for it. :)

As a geologist, I love this video... best part, a decent chunk of my time is spent staring at old maps!

You are so lucky that you can find documents on these old villages. Sadly, in Ireland we are dependent on the physical remains because there is no information extant.

Paul, well done mate. This is by far, the best mini doc from you both for ages. How you haven't been offered a job by mainstream t.v is beyond me. It's well researched & informed content, spoken very eloquently, is a credit to you both. Keep 'em coming like this mate. Regards...........Urban Geeze.

Another wonderful video tour of what used to be! It's sobering to think that 200 years ago a family could support itself on just 20 acres of arable land with another 10-20 acres of common pasture. Today a farm of just 500 acres is barely enough for a farmer to break even in a good year.

That was a brilliant film! Like yourself, I spend time now and again walking amongst the remnants and living quarters of those that came before us. There are so many abandoned settlements in the UK. Thanks for making the effort to research, and make this video, I do this sort of thing, and appreciate the effort you've gone to, to film, and edit this video. Cheers.

That was superb, real history brought alive by you two. Love the new format.

This is easily the best video you have ever produced

One of the most enjoyable things I've watched all week.

My favourite thing about being from my part of Wiltshire as a kid was all the abandoned stone mines in Box, corsham, monkton Farleigh, kingsdown ect...what an amazing place to grow up!

I know that you all have busy-busy lives outside of the channel -- and you have had to make some life choices -- but thank you *SO MUCH* for still posting videos, and all of the work that you go through!!!

This is a very interesting subject! And I love the scenery in this part of England too. Beautifully done drone shots.

1000% worth the wait for any video you do. Only release them when you're happy. This was well worth it.

This was definitely a labor of love. The next best thing to visiting Wiltshire itself.

A thoroughly captivating piece of work, which I really enjoyed. One day you may visit Wharram Percy on the Yorkshire Wolds which has an abandoned village; abandoned railway; heritage railway; excellent pub nearby in Thixendale. What's not to like! Excellent, reflective, and enthusiastic as ever. Thank you Paul and Rebecca.

A fantastic film Thank Paul..You are a wonderful detective, and such infectious enthusiasm ❤

Another excellent masterpiece of a presentation. I don’t know how I missed this one earlier. Thank you both for the work you do!

I share in your love of old maps and atlases. I have a 1950's Hammond atlas that shows all these long since abandoned railways of North America with wonderful names! The quality of your videos is fantastic. Enjoy all your documentaries. 😊

As a teenager I used to spend hours in Banstead Library going through their 'Surrey Archaeological Collections', their old maps plus books of the wider landscape history (especially Wiltshire). It was a wonderful journey of discovery though often leading to more questions than answers. I recognize your sense of wonder as you peace together how places came about and then often disappeared through various reasons, often though not always to do with the palgue of the 1300's and/or big landowners finding sheep more profitable than people. It gave me a sense of place in an ever changing landscape. Now I'm in Brittany and doing the same thing using new and quite detailed maps which have only existed here for the past 20 years or so. There's barely any written history books at all! But I'm finding if one goes back far enough (basically pre- Dark Ages) it's very similar here to England, as if the same people were building barrows, chambered tombs, old long-distance trackways etc. as in Western Britain right up until the end of the Roman era. It's just as fascinating though also more frustrating as there's so little written evidence compared to Britain. Archaeology is now advanceing here though I sometimes feel like an 18th C archaeologist, working things out for the very first time!

Thank both, a lot of work, and great appreciation to anyone who starts by saying "so I made a spreadsheet".

Keep these Docutubes going. Theres some great history being brought to us AND sometimes from my own county of Wiltshire

Thanks for finding AND PRESENTING a null result - refuting your hypothesis is as important as confirming it!

That was absolutely fantastic, Mr and Mrs Whitewick! :) I can see the effort that you have put it in to create an extraordinarily well put together film! My hypothesis is that Wiltshire has not, since prehistoric times been the centre of anything much - villages there would have eked out an existence on some pretty poor soils so plague, famine and bad weather would quickly move people on - and then the Industrial Revolution happened and people would have gravitated to the cities abandoning these villages…

Excellent video Paul. Villages continue to change, the one I was born into in 1960 is changed beyond recognition in its function and displacement. The new video format was a huge success, you did great!

"The moving finger writes and having writ moves on" - Omar Kayaam. I love how my dog lives in the moment. We should all do the same.

Absolutely brilliant👍 being a Wiltshire lad, it makes it even more interesting. The editing though, and the graft that must of went into that though 👌👌👌

Great job. Maps are fascinating. Particularly when you compare old ones to new ones. You can almost see the history change in front of your eyes. I've always been fascinated by railways - where they went, who they served and why the ceased to be. Compare some maps and there you are. But also...roads - Roman ones. Partly school stuff but also, back in the day, car rallies (ie the sort where you spend most of the day following clues and maps and finding targets). Was part of the factory social club that my dad was in but we went along to "see the world" as well as to take part. So not only were we travelling but also looking for clues - pathways, manor houses, old villages. Maps. OS ones in particular. Loads of good stuff in those. Fascinating.

Fascinating Paul ... Just love the quality of research you put into these vids. Every time I learn something new and always interesting

What a grand meditation! Thank you!

I have just discovered your excellent channel Paul and am starting to work through your back catalogue.Eenjoyable, informative and superbly presented.

Your stepping back sure shows in the quality of your video. This, in my opinion, is the best I've seen, and I've been following for years. If only I was in a position to be a patreon.

P&R, is anyone archiving your videos for future generations? Your collective interest in local/regional/national history is, IMHO, worthy of saving. Always an enjoyable time watching your videos. I'm in Canada, we have history of course and possibly in another 200 years there will be a couple such as yourselves rambling over the countryside, scouring the libraries/maps/data bases of the time producing media such as yours.

Brilliant. Well done. Told you we'd all still be here.

You guys are teal treasures.What youre doing is something everyone has wondered about. I also love the way you guys get along.

Absolutely fantastic!

having grew up in Wootton Bassett and the Binknoll lane being near, I never knew it was probably headed in the direction of Binknoll Castle. I have never been Next time im back there I will sure visit it. This is a great video, interesting and full of passion

Still watching indeed. Very well documented and explained. Thanks

Yes, startling shots and editing. Very fine work, everyone.

Great video. Back in the 1970s, I went looking for abandoned villages in Warwickshire. Living outside the UK, I'm amazed that so much of the British countryside is readily accessible. Where I now live, all land is private and jealously guarded with "No Trespassing" notices. Is it legal to metal-detect on those old village sites? If you could locate where the villagers dumped their rubbish, you could possibly find a wealth of disposed of items, like old bottles or earthenware.

It has been suggested to me that Shaw was abandoned due to the change of climate when it got colder at that time. It was a grange of the monastery at Winchester (If I recall correctly). The surviving records show a decline in the the harvests over time and repeated crop failures.

Beautiful film.

Ouch! I have accidentally leaned on, and grabbed, electric livestock fences before myself! It definitely gets your attention!

I have only recently found this amazing channel. The production value of this was outstanding. I’ve been binge watching all your other videos. The enthusiasm you both have is amazing. I personally don’t care how long it takes between videos. It’s about how you both feel about the quality you can deliver rather than quantity and delivering something you can be proud of without suffering from burn out.

Wow ... what a deep message from a video! Thank you.

@ 9:55 - Climbs over a style when he could easily walks around it!!! 😄🚂🚂🚂

hello again Paul and Rebecca , this video was so interesting , when i was younger i loved rummaging in empty fields for old buildings , you can picture all the cottage's with smoke coming from the chimneys and the people going about their day , i really did enjoy this one , really well done and thank you both 😊😍

Dear Paul and Rebecca, thank you very much for this excellent documentary!. Also your deep words at the end made an expression. Greetings from the Netherlands

Absolutely stunning video, great work.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoy this channel. My fieldwork ceased years ago with age and disability. WG Hoskins would have enjoyed this too. “ Fieldwork in local history “ brought up to date with technology, and a real grasp of that technology. Please keep up the good work.

Top notch output and you should be so proud of it; well done!

Top class documentary, really interesting and a proper look at the settlements that used to be occupied in that area. 👍

Fascinating journey. Beautifully filmed.

Fantastic content and great film. Well worth a little longer wait! Thank you🤓

Brilliant, loved that.

Very interesting. I lived in Shrewton, the next village along the A344 from 1948 until 1966. There was only a small car park up near the Heel Stone which is near the road and away from the circle. A lady called Mrs. Cook had a tea and sandwiches caravan on the car park. There was certainly no large cafe near the fork in the roads. I seem to remember the cottages, but cannot be sure. Near the stones was a "Woollaway" bungalow owned by Paddy O'Neil who ran a smallholding, and had a few pigs. The A344 is now closed off and the bungalow no longer there. The whole area is now a "visitor attraction", heavily marketed and organised. Avebury has gone the same way.

Thanks!

Quality is preferable to regularity. This video is somehow even better than the previous ones. I hope this new approach is a result of not letting any sense of pressure determine how you ought to make videos. Only if you are happy, your viewers can be.

At last! Now I know Bincknoll Castle was a Norman development. I've been up there any number of times on my hikes in the countryside and always wondered who built it. Thanks Paul and Rebecca.

My maternal Grandmother was born in a tied cottage close to Corton Manor Farm. (Clevancy / Hilmarton). Bupton is in the fields just behind the farm. Several generations of my family must have played in those same fields. It seems some of the family referred to RAF Clyffe Pypard as RAF Bupton. Although in recent years I've wondered whether they really meant RAF Yatesbury. I have a little photo of planes taken at the top of the ridge above Clevancy, the photo is captioned "RAF Bupton".

This is why I love metal detecting, we have found out so much in the area we detect ,love going back in time and looking at old maps ,not a lot in the books but the more we search the more we find and find out what lays beneath or feet.

Your video reminds me of some of the empty / dying village areas explored near my wife’s family home town in Japan. PS - what an excellent video. Thank you for making this for us!

Fascinating but your conclusion was so thoughtful and reflective almost the best part of the whole film. Brilliant work!

It really shows that you put so much time an effort towards this video. Thank you for providing such interesting and lovely content. Keep up your great work at the pace you choose.

I love old maps!

Excellent.

One word Excellent.

Seeing you with the electric fence reminds me of a story from my childhood in Wiltshire. My brother and I and Dave and June Clark were cycling past a field. June and I were about 7 and my brother and Dave were about 11. We all stopped by a field with an electric fence. I had never seen one before. The two older boys called us over and said come and touch the fence. Both June and I did. Nothing happened. The two older boys looked puzzled and both went and touched the fence and got an electric shock. It turned out that June and I were wearing sandles with thick rubber souls and we were insulated.

Fantastic explore. Love the English countryside. Video was so well done. Thanks for taking me along. Please take care

Twenty-two minutes of my life well-spent :) Thank you :) You and Stewart Ainsworth (ex-Time Team) would make a great pair examining earthworks ("lumps and bumps") :P I've seen a few TT episodes where they examine abandoned villages. At least one was because the "peasants' hovels" spoiled his view. Reminds me of the Martian on Bugs Bunny :P Thanks for the hard work that you put in. These are great videos :) Oh, Helo from Australia :D

Excellent video. The extra time you guys can now devote to these is paying dividend.

just came to see this after one of the new time team epidoes and I love your landscape archeology and narration. Bravo!

Your best film yet

"High up on the Chalk" Made me remember Terry Pratchett. Thanks for that

A really fascinating video, it leaves far more questions than it answers and explains why Historical and Archaeological research is so important, thanks very much.

We have these in Somerset too. In addition we have ancient Roman sites as the area around Ilchester is one of the densest for Roman remains in the country presumably because the land was so fertile. I came across a house which was quite old but built on the site of a Roman dwelling giving it a remarkable status. There is much to be learned from the study of old maps and documents, where such exist, as you have discovered. A very intriguing video. Well done.

Superb production, levelled up! Enjoyed this a lot.

What a work and research you put into this. Excellent. Filming superb. Yes memories will continue. Thank you.

Brilliant, really informative thank you.

I very much enjoyed the new style of video. Beautifully shot, edited, and great storytelling ❤

Wonderful video. Really fascinating to see how quickly places like this disappear so quickly after being inhabited for so long.

You are obsessed with history and I absolutely love it you vids are so awesome to watch, clear and concise well done.please keep up the good work. From a kiwi that would love to come over and check out my heritage

What an interesting documentary. I believe that we should preserve our own history, this is why I encourage people not only to write theur story, but also their families stories. I recently did just that.

Another excellent video. Nice drone shots. Thank you. Shocking ending!

Wow, well worth waiting for. What a lovely presentation! Such wonderful research, commentary & photography. This is the way to go! 👌 😊 👍

One of the best of your videos! Particularly appreciated your thoughts and commentary at the end. You guys are amazing.

Worth the wait. Lovely video Paul and Rebecca

You deserve praise for this video. I love watching your channel. Keep up the good work.

Much appreciated, love the work you both do, thank you.

An absolutely brilliant presentation.

So many ideas for my campervan trips. Nice work.

Paul and Rebecca you did a wonderful job! Very high quality. Looking forward to even more videos like this.

I think you would be very interested in an old episode of Jack Hargreaves called WHY 79 DORSET VILLAGES HAVE DISSAPERED he explains exactly why most off these villages dissapered after the plague and it's probably the same all around the country, it's all an amazing part of British history.

I live and grew up in Wootton bassett, and often walk to binknoll Castle (round trip from my door, about 10 miles). Just round the corner from the farm are some old farm cottages, in the front garden of one of these is the foundation of the Chappel. Also if you walk along the Whitehouse route, which is at the bottom of the hill, you see all manner of old left over buildings. This is also very short stones throw from the wilts and berks canal, with a semi restored lock (lock has fixed gate, so no way to operate it. Last think Binknoll is pounced bi (like the plane, or meaning 2) knoll, you don't pronounce the n.