Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The first phase was one of the earliest castles in England to be built at least partly using stone when the majority were built with earth and timber. Corfe Castle underwent major structural changes in the 12th and 13th centuries.

In 1572, Corfe Castle left the Crown's control when Elizabeth I sold it to Sir Christopher Hatton. Sir John Bankes bought the castle in 1635, and was the owner during the English Civil War. While Bankes was fighting in London and Oxford, his wife, Lady Mary Bankes, led the defence of the castle when it was twice besieged by Parliamentarian forces. The first siege, in 1643, was unsuccessful, but by 1645 Corfe was one of the last remaining royalist strongholds in southern England and fell to a siege ending in an assault. In March that year Corfe Castle was slighted on Parliament's orders. Owned by the National Trust, the castle is open to the public and in 2018 received around 237,000 visitors. It is protected as a grade I listed building and a scheduled monument.

Text adapted from “Corfe Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Corfe Castle ranks #343 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #26 of the 329 mapped in England. Founded 1100, it is older than 87% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 317 atlas entries founded in the 11th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 17,254 times in the last 60 days, more than 96% of the atlas. Wikidata records about 190,000 visitors in 2010. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Southampton, 55 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗