If a village or town was to become deserted, and without human interference...?

Question

How nature would reclaim it and how long it would be before evidence of the place would be difficult to see. I am thinking about it in relation to British weather conditions and nature as in different climates it would happen differently.

Answer 1

You might find this useful

Answer 2

I just saw (part of) a show that was about some ancient civilization in Africa. Archeologists knew about parts that were there and had done some studying on it, but an aerial photograph of some sort made the ppl involved realize the 'city' was huge. It was larger than New York (whether they meant state or city, I'm not sure) but, like the Maya/Aztecs, ultimately, their collapse was due to overpopulation-supply (of resources) was too little for demand.
Sorry, I can't remember more but my point is that the 'city' was huge but over the past thousands of years, it was so overgrown by forest, the current generation had no idea of the size. The same type of imaging is being used to locate Mayan ruins b/c the jungle is so thick over those areas.
How long it takes, not sure. But I do know trees grow at different rates.
IE-Some redwoods are a thousand years old and take forever to grow, oaks can take decades to become fully grown and there's some new type-Australian something or the other-that only takes a few years to reach maturity. I think a lot of it has to do with the type of tree and the climate.

Answer 3

in Northern China about 900 villages were buried under the dust in a matter of months because of dust storms due to desertification,

The dust storms were not man made but the desertification was,because of over grazing ,over pumping aquifers ,and the excessive use of aggro chemicals.
.
So at what point do we consider human causes.?

In the jungle or bush vegetation will cover and destroy primitive adobe and grass constructions within a couple of years ,

But Mayan temples remain intact after many hundreds of years ,the jungle just hides them.
so a lot depends on the quality of the buildings

We now know that concrete can rot and fall apart with in 100 years .

Who knows what buildings have been on Earth since the beginning of time .

In England there were many wooden castles previously unknown ,totally disappeared only areal photos revealed the imprints .

Africa also had many wooden castles that represented large high level civilizations ,Politics did not want that to be known and most of the people are unaware of Africa's civilizations ,since the evidences had gone from the view ,

As with Native North American cultures who now were known to have build 3 story houses .

so in the case of organic building I would say a 100 years ,
and with stone or marble maybe never .
the Pyramid of Giza is testimony to that ,as is stone hence ,

Although if the Natural disasters are big enough they may become totally buried or hidden .
Very sophisticated marble pillars were discovered on the bottom of some of the deepest parts of the Ocean of the coast of Bermuda

Answer 4

It would depend on what sort of environment the town was in. I've seen signs of once-inhabited buildings in the mountains east of Seattle that have brush grown up so much that you can barely tell they're there if you don't go exploring a bit. In places like that where the plant life can grow and conceal it and just basically engulf the townspace, it wouldn't take too long. On the other hand, places like Nevada, where it's desert, buildings can sit and dry up and very slowly fall apart, but you'll still see the remains for a long time.

I'm not quite sure if this is really what you're asking, though?

Answer 5

I asked a question like this a long time ago about which life form would ultimately prevail in similar conditions to those you describe.
Most people thought it wouldn't take very long for nature to take over, probably a couple of growing seasons for plants to invade buildings, especially in rural areas.
Where I live there are firing ranges and some buildings and vehicles have been left untouched for years, they are completely overgrown, plants having taken root in cracks in mortar between bricks and weakening the structure very quickly.
I also work on a nature reserve and it is a full time job removing invasive species that can smother native species very quickly.
When Chernobyl was evacuated plants were finding areas on buildings to take root within 2 years, growing up walls and in small gaps in window and door frames.
So to answer your question, nature would start to reclaim it as soon as everyone left, but it would depend on whereabouts in the UK it was. If rhododendron was growing locally and wind blown pollen from trees took root the place would be unrecognisable within 10 years.

Answer 6

Permaculture Answer:

In the Permaculture Link it shows a Permaculture Garden that has been left three years largely unattended.

'It is the Garden of Eden, paradise with a great variety of perennial and self seeding foods; another sort of Jungle' Bill Mollison Permaculture Concept Part 6

This is the last of 6 in this series, really worth watching them all.

'Will Permaculture Work? Will Plants Grow?' Bill Mollison

We have left our land to heal by allowing it to overgrow. In two years Cherry Trees that could not blossom at all are now rich in blossom, dozens of different species of plants have appeared, it is rich in dragonflies, newts, frogs, toads, stoats, weasels, barn owls, foxes, birds etc. It will only get better as time goes on.

The key GIVE NATURE A CHANCE TO HEAL. It will reclaim and enrich the environment

Answer 7

well it depends on several things. The rate of growth amont or rain wind and other things that would knock down a house/building. I say it would take at least 100 years before there was no sign left, maybe even more further north where planet growth is slower.

Answer 8

That sound just like the village of the Damned

Answer 9

There's a book that just came out about this. I just heard about it on NPR. You should check it out, I think it will have exactly what you're looking for:

"The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman