Built on the orders of William the Conqueror shortly after the Norman conquest of 1066, Corfe Castle was one of the earliest castles in England to be built at least in part out of stone. The castle is located in Dorset, England. It sits in a prominent position, on a hill rising to 62 metres, within a gap along the Purbeck Hills. A village, also called Corfe Castle, adjoins to the south.
Corfe Castle’s impressive stone keep was built in the early 12th century by King Henry I, William the Conqueror’s son. The castle was subsequently besieged during the period known as The Anarchy, the civil war that took place during the reign of King Stephen (1135–1154). Later, during the reign of King John (1199-1216), large sums were spent on the castle, including the building the substantial gloriette within the inner bailey.
The castle was later sold by Queen Elizabeth I to Sir Christopher Hatton in 1572, and it subsequently fell into the hands of the Bankes family. This prominent Dorset family supported King Charles I during the English Civil War starting in 1642. This led to the castle being besieged by the victorious Parliamentarian forces, who after taking the castle, later passed an Act of Parliament ordering the castle to be slighted or destroyed. This was carried out in part, leaving the ruins that can be seen today. In 1982 the site was given to the National Trust by Ralph Bankes and it is today open to the public.
Saturday, 27th January 2024
A National Trust banner advertising Corfe Castle outside the entrance to the castle itself.Tony and Spud, his step-dad, crossing a bridge over the moat to the outer gatehouse at Corfe Castle. The stone outer gatehouse was constructed in the 12th or 13th century. The front part of the gatehouse comprises a pair of circular towers joined in the middle by an arch. The gatehouse was originally an imposing structure standing at roughly twice its current height. Beyond the gatehouse is the outer bailey.Tony in a wooden pillory in the outer bailey of Corfe Castle. A pillory is a device with three holes used to secure a person’s head and arms in order to punish them by public humiliation. Pillories were used during the medieval and renaissance periods. They are related to stocks, which were used for the same purpose, but instead restrained a person’s feet.Another shot of Tony in the pillory. Behind the inner bailey can be seen at the top of the hill with its towering stone keep.View along a path leading up to the inner bailey of Corfe Castle with the keep standing prominently above. The now ruined stone keep dates from the early 12th century during the reign of Henry I. The keep took around a decade to complete progressing at 3 to 4 metres a year. It stood at 23 metres (80 feet) in height on top of a 62 metre (200 foot) hill.A stone wall with an attached plaque indicating it is part of the Third Tower. This was one of a series of towers that were built into the defensive walls of the outer bailey.A narrow roughly rectangular arrow slit in the walls of one of the towers of the outer bailey.A bridge leading over the moat in front of the South-West Gatehouse at Corfe Castle. There might have originally been a drawbridge here. The ruins of the South-West Gatehouse can be seen: there are two stone towers which would have originally been joined by an arch which has partially collapsed. This gatehouse was built in about 1250 on the site of an earlier structure. This gateway provides access to and formerly protected the west bailey.Steps ascending between ruined walls in the direction of the keep.A leaning stone wall within the grounds of Corfe Castle.View through a hole in a stone wall looking into the inner bailey of Corfe Castle. On the far side substantial ruined stone walls can be seen containing door and window holes some with Gothic arches. This forms the remains of the 13th century gloriette built during the reign of King John. Corfe Castle was frequently visited by King John and he had the country’s best craftsmen build the gloriette as a mini-palace. It had interior decorations and even an indoor toilet for the King’s use.A wooden trebuchet in a courtyard at Corfe Castle. A trebuchet is a catapult that has a rotating arm with a sling used to launch projectiles. Before the availability of gunpowder trebuchets were used to hurl large rocks and other projectiles during the siege of a castle.A stone panel carved with a grotesque near to the entrance to Corfe Castle. The relief carving depicts a human-like face with leaves around its chin – perhaps a Green Man.Black sheep feeding on straw near to Corfe Castle.
