CORFE CASTLE

Dorset

Corfe Castle is surely the most dramatic ruined Castle in England.  It stands high above the village of the same name, dominating its picturesque little turnings.

Corfe was an important site from late Saxon times, when the Kings had a palace here. It was here that Edward the Martyr met his fate - and so did England because it made way for Ethelred the Unready to become King.

When the actual Castle was founded is unclear.  Reference is made in The Domesday Book to Wareham Castle - but this may mean the actual Castle in Wareham, which has all but vanished today.  It was almost certainly built in stone when it was sieged during the Anarchy by King Stephen...to the west there is a small circular ringwork (known often as "The Rings") which is a siegework from this period.  Stephen never got inside.

King John spent over £1400 on the Castle and Henry III another £1000, vast sums of money for those far off days, and it was during this period that probably the greatest medieval Castle in south west England was constructed.

Incredibly, after all that expenditure, Corfe soon fell into disuse and it was sold by Elizabeth I.

Who would have thought, then, that Corfe's most glorious hour still had not come.

In 1643 the Civil War rolled into rural Dorset.  Corfe Castle, still the strongest Castle around, was held by Lady Banks for the King.  All attempts at gaining entry failed and after three months the siege was called off. For the next two and half years Corfe Castle was the only Royalist stronghold this side of Reading.  The long and continuous assault got nowhere, and the Castle was eventually captured by stealth.  In February 1646 some Roundheads gained access to the Castle posing as a relieving force of the King's Men.

Once the Castle was taken a vigorous rain of destruction fell upon Corfe.  It must have been heart-breaking indeed for the people of the village to see their magnificent Castle being dynamited by the Parliamentarians. Despite this massive amounts remain of Corfe Castle today, and even in its ruined state it is truly magnificent...what must it have been like when it was intact!

The Castle is owned by the National Trust and is open all year.

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2018