Ghost village stuns Brits as it emerges from drought-hit reservoir
The buildings were demolished to help make way for the reservoir in the 1970s.
The record-breaking drought that has gripped vast swathes of England has revealed the remains of a lost village that was demolished and flooded to create a reservoir. Low water levels at Rutland Water, East Midlands, have uncovered the remnants of the buildings once part of the village of Nether Hambleton.
Residents in the hamlet, along with other small villages including Middle Hambleton, were relocated to other areas before the buildings were demolished and the area flooded in the 1970s to create the reservoir. More than 3,000 acres of land were submerged to create Rutland Water, making it one of the largest man-made bodies of water in western Europe. Completed in 1976, the reservoir covers more than four square miles with cottages, farms and farmhouses all knocked down to make way for it.
At its maximum, Rutland Water is 34 metres deep but as England continues to face extremely dry conditions, the stonework that was left behind after the demolition of Nether Hambleton has been uncovered by falling water levels.
Images of the ghost village show the outline of buildings, as well as frozen-in-time bricks and slabs of stone.
Rainfall across the East Midlands has been below average for the past five consecutive months, according to the Environment Agency (EA), with the spring and summer period the driest since 1995 and July being the driest on record.
The East Midlands, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, Kent and East Sussex, and Solent and the South Downs became the latest areas to move into drought status on Monday.
An amber warning for extreme heat has been issued by the Met Office for Thursday, as some parts of England face soaring temperatures of up to 38C.
The forecaster has issued the warning for London and parts of the South East, East Midlands, East of England, West Midlands and South Yorkshire from 9am to midnight on Thursday as temperatures are to climb to 37C or 38C in some places.
It comes as the Met Office announced the summer of 2026 is on course to be the UK’s warmest on record following weeks of high temperatures.
Tony Grayling, strategic drought lead at the EA and chairman of the National Drought Group, warned “worsening” drought conditions are set to continue with significant rainfall.
