England’s countryside is dotted with villages that seem frozen in time, each with its peculiar customs and quirky features. Some are so unusual that they seem more like fiction than reality, with strange traditions dating back centuries. From tiny settlements built around bizarre monuments to communities with the most distinctive names, these places showcase the delightfully eccentric side of English heritage.
Here is a list of 19 of the oddest and most eccentric villages in England’s green and pleasant land.
Bibury
Bibury’s Arlington Row cottages are so picturesque that they appear as a security watermark on British passports. The village is often called ‘the most beautiful in England’ and has been used as a filming location for movies, including Stardust and Bridget Jones’s Diary.
Tourists are often amused by the regular ‘traffic jams’ caused by the local ducks waddling across the main street.
Mousehole
This tiny Cornish fishing village has a name that locals insist must be pronounced ‘Mowzel’ rather than how it’s spelled. Every December 23rd, the entire village commemorates Tom Bawcock’s Eve by eating a special fish pie called ‘stargazy pie’ with fish heads poking out of the crust, staring at the stars.
Despite being small enough to walk across in five minutes, Mousehole attracts thousands of visitors each winter for its spectacular harbor Christmas lights display.
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Cerne Abbas
Cerne Abbas is famous for its ancient 180-foot chalk giant carved into a hillside, complete with a prominent anatomical feature that makes it impossible to forget. School trips to this village are notoriously awkward for teachers, who must explain the enormous nude figure that has looked over the village for centuries.
Local legends claim that women who wish to conceive should spend a night on the figure, leading to countless giggles and raised eyebrows among visitors.
Portmeirion
Portmeirion isn’t truly a village but an elaborate architectural fantasy designed to look like an Italian coastal town, bizarrely situated in North Wales. Its creator, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis, spent 50 years constructing this surreal, Mediterranean-style village with pastel-colored buildings and ornate domes.
The village gained cult status as the filming location for the 1960s TV series The Prisoner. Visitors can stay overnight in buildings with names like Angel and Neptune.
Eyam
Known as the ‘plague village,’ Eyam made the extraordinary decision to quarantine itself in 1665 when the bubonic plague arrived, sacrificing nearly half its population to prevent the disease from spreading. Residents would leave money in water-filled holes at the village boundary that merchants disinfect with vinegar before leaving supplies.
Modern visitors can see the ‘boundary stone’ where these exchanges took place and cottages marked with plaques naming the plague victims who died inside.
Tintagel
This Cornish coastal village lives in the shadow of its legendary connection to King Arthur, with ruins of a medieval castle perched dramatically on its cliffs. Local businesses shamelessly capitalize on the Arthurian connection with everything from Excalibur Pasties to ‘Merlin’s Ice Cream.’
The village post office proudly stamps mail with ‘Tintagel – Birthplace of King Arthur,’ despite historians regularly pointing out that he legend has little historical basis.
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Hambleden
This picture-perfect village has appeared in many films and TV shows, and residents barely notice when Hollywood stars wander their streets during filming. A single estate owns the entire village, which has remained virtually unchanged for centuries, making it the perfect backdrop for period dramas.
Locals casually mention encounters with celebrities at the village pub as if discussing the weather, having hosted productions from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to Band of Brothers.
Bussage
This Gloucestershire village features a mysterious ‘Coffin Stone’ where pallbearers would rest coffins up the steep hill to the church during funeral processions. The unusual stone seat includes small depressions designed to securely hold the corners of a coffin while the bearers caught their breath.
Children in the village dare each other to sit on the stone at night, with local legends claiming anyone who does will hear the whispers of the dead whose coffins once rested there.
Imber
Imber, England’s ghost village, was forcibly evacuated during World War II when the War Office requisitioned it for training troops preparing for the D-Day landings. The 135 residents were given just 47 days’ notice to leave their homes, with the promise they could return when the war ended.
Despite the war ending 75 years ago, Imber remains under military control and is open to the public only a few days each year.
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Pluckley
Once listed in the Guinness Book of Records as Britain’s most haunted village, Pluckley reportedly hosts at least twelve resident ghosts, including a screaming man, a phantom monk, and a ghostly highwayman. The village becomes overrun with ghost hunters every Halloween, much to the annoyance of locals trying to sleep.
Pragmatic villagers have turned the supernatural reputation to their advantage by hosting ghost tours and themed events at the infamously haunted local pub.
Bamburgh
This tiny village sits in the shadow of one of England’s most impressive castles, which dominates the skyline for miles around. The beach below the castle was a filming location for movies such as Robin Hood and Transformers: The Last Knight.
Local fishermen still launch traditional wooden cobles from the beach, just as their ancestors have done for centuries.
Tyneham
Tyneham in Dorset has stood frozen since December 1943, when residents were ordered to leave for military training exercises during World War II. A sign on the church door reads, ‘Please treat the church and houses with care; we have given up our homes where many of us lived for generations to help win the war.’
The abandoned village remains part of an army firing range, accessible only when military exercises aren’t taking place.
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Polperro
The streets of this Cornish fishing village are so narrow that residents use special miniature wheelbarrows called ‘Polperro trolleys’ to transport goods from their cars to their homes. Cars are banned from the village center, and tourists must park on the outskirts and walk the quarter-mile into the jumble of fishermen’s cottages.
The village once thrived on smuggling, and hidden tunnels and secret cellars still exist beneath many buildings.
Castle Combe
Often called ‘the prettiest village in England,’ Castle Combe has banned satellite dishes, visible power lines, and street signs to maintain its medieval appearance. The village has remained so unchanged that the clock on its church tower dates from the 15th century and is one of the oldest working clocks in the country.
Residents must follow strict rules about everything from paint colors to garden plants to preserve the village’s timeless charm that draws thousands of photographers annually.
Lacock
The National Trust owns this village, which functions as a living museum. Modern intrusions like TV antennas and power lines are hidden from view. The village appears frozen in the 18th century and has appeared in productions ranging from Pride and Prejudice to Harry Potter.
As part of their rental agreements with the National Trust, residents must agree to open their homes to tourists several times a year.
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Bourton-on-the-Water
Known as the ‘Venice of the Cotswolds,’ this village features a river running through its center, crossed by several low stone bridges. The village contains a peculiar one-ninth-scale model of itself, which contains an even smaller model, creating a bizarre village-within-a-village inception effect.
Every Boxing Day, the village hosts a football match played in the ankle-deep water of Windrush, drawing hundreds of spectators to watch the soggy spectacle.
Avebury
This village is located in the middle of Europe’s largest stone circle, and many houses were built using stones pilfered from the prehistoric monument. Residents live casually among 5,000-year-old standing stones; some have these ancient monoliths in their front gardens.
The local pub, The Red Lion, claims to be the only pub inside a stone circle worldwide. It is reputedly haunted by several ghosts, including a former landlady who was thrown down the well.
Peculiar England
England’s eccentric villages remind us that the quirky, the unexpected, and the downright strange have always been part of the country’s cultural fabric. These communities have preserved their oddities through centuries of change, stubbornly maintaining traditions that might seem baffling to outsiders.
In a world increasingly homogenized by global culture, these peculiar villages stand as charming reminders that local character and eccentricity remain vital parts of England’s national identity.
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