Corfe Castle |
| Corfe Castle, both as a village and a castle, is located on the A351 between Wareham and Swanage in Dorset. The area is popularly known as the Isle of Purbeck.
Regarding the Isle of Purbeck, that is something of an error of statement in that it is actually a peninsular but will never shake it?s popular description of Isle.
In terms of access locally, visitors, for some part of the year, can also enjoy a steam train ride on The Swanage Railway which presently runs from the Norden Park & Ride just outside Corfe Castle to Swanage without the hassle of finding parking in Swanage itself. There is also a station at Corfe Castle. The medieval castle, commanding a gap in the Purbeck ridge, is now an imposing ruin and a popular tourist centredrawing on it's many years of history. There is belief it may have been a Roman defensive site, but the castle we see the ruins of today was a rebuild in the 11th century of what was a wood castle back into the 9th century. The village and its famous castle are built mainly from the local Purbeck stone which is probably the finest limestone available for building and polishing in England, and is used throughout the world. In the 13th century King John went to great lengths improving his accommodation and the defences. He built a fine hall and chapel together with domestic buildings. Henry III constructed additional walls, towers and gatehouses Monarchs had come and gone until 1572 when Queen Elizabeth I sold it to Sir Christopher Hatton, her dancing master and some suppose a suitor. In 1635 the Castle was sold to Sir John Bankes, the then Lord Chief Justice, more as a holiday home rather than as a first home. By 1643 the Parliamentarians occupied most of Dorset, the castle then survived a six-week siege. Sir John Bankes died in 1644 and the castle endured a number of half-baked blockades. Later in 1645 a second siege was started by Colonel Bingham, Governor of Poole, and courtesy of an insider the Roundheads took over in February 1646. The Castle was systematically destroyed by the Parliamentary forces, but the fact that some remains is surely testimony to strength of construction. Ownership remained with the Bankes Family until 1982 when it was bequeathed to the National Trust. Details such as opening times, cost of admission, functions and facilities may be obtained from the National Trust site: |
