| Page Views: 841 Last Visit to Corfe Castle: June, 2008 | A very English village by toonsarah - last update: Jul 14, 2008 |
| Corfe Castle village from the castle grounds |
In many ways Corfe Castle is the quintessential English village. It certainly has all the necessary ingredients. Steeped in history, its old stone cottages nestle in a hollow beneath a ruined castle. A few shops, a number of pubs, a couple of B&Bs, a tea room and a good hotel cater to visitors, but most seem to come just as day-trippers from the nearby resorts of Swanage or Poole, and the village manages to retain its sleepy atmosphere. You sense that nothing much has changed here for years.
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|  | Some history
The history of the village is inextricably linked to that of the castle, which was begun by William the Conqueror soon after his arrival in Britain in 1066. The Bankes family bought the castle in 1632, starting a long association with the village (where there is still a Bankes Arms pub), which was partly responsible for drawing me to it. As a child I went to Lady Bankes Primary School in Ruislip, named after Lady Mary Bankes, who grew up in Ruislip as a member of the local “big” family, the Hawtreys. She married into the Bankes family, and following the death of her husband during the Civil War, she bravely and successfully defended the castle during a siege in 1643. However, during a second siege in 1646 an act of betrayal by a member of her garrison led to the castle’s capture by the Parliamentarians. They allowed her to go free out of respect for her bravery, but deliberately demolished the castle resulting in the dramatic ruin we can see today. Much of the missing stone can be found in the houses of Corfe Castle Village.
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Sightseeing
There is more than enough to do in this area to keep you occupied for a week or more, but we were only here for a couple of days! In that time we managed to see something of the village, visit the castle, and explore the stunning coastline nearby, including Lulworth Cove, about which I’ve made a separate page. We also visited the intriguing lost village of Tyneham and the Blue Pool at Wareham, both described here in Off the Beaten Path tips.
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| Pros: | "Charming, packed with history, and surrounded by beautiful countryside" | | Cons: | "The weather is as unreliable as everywhere in England" |
toonsarah's Corfe Castle Travel Tips
 Comments for toonsarah about Corfe Castle | | | | |
trvlrtom Sun Dec 21, 2008 19:59 UTC
Thanks for the good introduction to yet another place I hope to see. Perhaps on our next trip to your lovely island. | volopolo Mon Dec 15, 2008 18:19 UTC
Green place! The Corfe Castle is magic. Great tips | robertgaz Thu Oct 30, 2008 23:47 UTC
So William the Conqueror came to Corfe Castle for a Captain Cook? | MURRA Fri Sep 5, 2008 16:46 UTC
south coast is the best |
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