Corfe Castle is the name of a village and is the site of a ruined castle of the same name. Burial grounds around the village suggest the area was occupied from 6000 BC with later Celtic and Roman occupation.

Corfe Castle has a church dedicated to St Edward King and Martyr. Edward, known as the martyr, was king of the English from 975 until he was murdered in 978 in Corfe. Edward was the eldest son of King Edgar but was not the acknowledged heir. Some supported him and others his half brother Æthelred. Civil war almost broke out until Edward’s reign came to an end with his murder. A number of lives of Edward were written in the centuries following his death in which he was portrayed as a martyr, generally seen as a victim of the Queen Dowager  Ælfthryth mother of Æthelred. He is today recognised as a saint in the Catholic Church,

The Corfe Castle fortification stands above the village and was built by William the Conqueror in the late 11^th century. It is one of the earliest castles built in stone (local Purbek stone) when castles were usually wood and earth. The castle remained a royal possession until Elizabeth I sold it and it eventually came into the Bankes family. They were the owners during the English Civil Wars in the 17^th century.  Ther Bankes were Royalists when the rest of Dorset was controlled by the Parliamentarians of Cromwell. The castle withstood two sieges but due to treachery was finally captured by the parliamentarians in1645.

In the same year Parliament voted to “slight” (destroy) the castle and it was blown up giving it its appearance of today.

Corfe is a very popular destination in Dorset. There is a vintage steam railway that runs between Swanage and Corfe Castle. It is a great day out to take the train from the seaside town of Swanage to Corfe Castle, spend the day there and get the train back.

We arrived in Corfe Castle about 4pm, tired, wet and muddy so went to the hotel to clean up. The castle closed at 5 so didn’t have time to visit and it opens at 10.30 in the morning when we will be long gone. Still you have to leave something not done as an excuse to come back.