West Tofts is a deserted village located in

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Lynford Lynford is a village and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk. The parish covers an area of , and the 2001 Census recorded a population of 157 in 81 households. Lynford lies north east of Brandon and between Mundford, to the nort ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. The village became deserted when it was taken over by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as part of the Stanford Battle Area, an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

training area that is still in use today. The village and most of the parish are within a prohibited area and access is not allowed without special permission from the Army. A remarkable 500,000 year old stone

hand axe A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history, yet there is no academic consensus on what they were used for. It is made from stone, usually flint or che ...

was found here in 1911 which has a Cretaceous bivalve mollusc, ''Spondylus spinosus'' fossil shell incorporated into its construction. It is now in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology,

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

References

* Rootsweb.com (1998–2006).
Ghost Towns/Deserted Villages of Great Britain
'. Retrieved February 17, 2006. Former populated places in Norfolk Villages in Norfolk Ghost towns in England Breckland District {{Norfolk-geo-stub Forcibly depopulated communities in the United Kingdom during World War II