Maryland, Brownsea Island and working on the estate of the island's new owners; daffodil fields were a particular feature. In 1927, Mrs Mary Bonham-Christie bought the island and closed down much of its employment; the redundant workers moved to the mainland, and the village was finally abandoned in the same year. During the Second World War II decoy lights were set nearby to divert German bombers from Poole and Bournemouth. The village was largely destroyed, and the ruins subsequently demolished. Maryland, Brownsea Island Maryland is a deserted village on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset, England. It was named for the wife of
Brownsea Castle another device in 1544 to further improve the country's defences, particularly along the south coast. The castle was built on the south-east corner of Brownsea Island between 1545 and 1547 to protect the entrance of the busy Poole Harbour. The island belonged to the Crown, having been confiscated from Cerne Abbey during the Dissolution of the Monasteries a few years before. It was a conservative design, being a one-storey, square blockhouse, reported in 1552 to be across, able to support guns on its roof and sub-divided into three rooms; the blockhouse was originally intended to have been two storeys in