The morning dawned a little overcast, but still warm, there were signs that the sun would be coming out once more and it looked very much like we would avoid the thunderstorms that were travelling from the south across the south east of the country, including home.
We walked into Swanage and had coffee before finding the Poole bus. Armed with our bus passes we set off for Corfe Castle. I have driven through the village of Corfe and past the old castle many times, but had never stopped to visit. Today that would be put right. The bus wound through the outskirts of Swanage and then through the villages of Langton Matravers and Kingston. The views across the countryside were beautiful and as we dropped down hill towards Corfe we had wonderful views of the castle ruins.
Alighting the bus we walked the short distance to the entrance.
Corfe Castle’s position, dominating a gap in the Purbeck
Hills, means it was probably a fortified site long before the Norman
conquest of 1066. But it was William the Conqueror who founded the castle we
know today when he made Corfe a key element in a network of fortifications
built to cement his power over the defeated English.
Most of the castles the Normans built in the early years
following the conquest were wooden palisades, hastily constructed on top of an
artificial mound called a motte. It’s a mark of Corfe’s importance that the
natural motte of the castle mound was one of the first to be topped with stone
walls.
Beside them, in what is now the west bailey, William built a stone hall, the remains of which are the oldest surviving part of the castle. We think he employed local masons, as the herringbone construction style is distinctively Saxon. Corfe was strategically important to William and his successors because it defended their links with the Norman heartlands across the Channel.
The keep at Corfe Castle, the tall structures that
stand out, was built in the early 12th century for King Henry I, William the
Conqueror’s son. It was designed to be impressive – and it certainly
was.
Standing 21 metres tall, and positioned atop a 55-metre-high
hill, this gleaming tower of Purbeck limestone could be seen from miles around.
Quarried just a few miles away, Purbeck limestone was prized for being easy to
shape yet tough enough to resist weathering.
You walk up the side of the castle moat, the Keep standing out against the sky.
The path takes you through the main Gatehouse, the central bridge having recently collapsed.
King John, who reigned from 1199 to 1216, had a soft spot
for Corfe Castle and wanted more luxury during his frequent
visits. He therefore built the gloriette in the shadow of
the old Norman keep – a pocket palace in the latest architectural
style featuring the work of England’s finest craftsmen. It
had interior decorations and even an indoor toilet for the King’s use.
John lavished more than £1,400 on improvements to the castle during his time on
the throne.
As we walked around the clouds gathered and the ruins felt like they would look much better in black and white.
In 1215, the barons forced King John to sign the Magna
Carta, limiting his power. The document has come to be seen as an important
step towards civil liberties and the rule of law, but John himself quickly went
back on it.
In 1216 – the last year of his reign – John spent even
more time at Corfe Castle. When he died, few mourned his passing, but his
legacy lives on in the building works he carried out here, especially the
magnificent gloriette.
Jump forward to 1572 and Sir Christopher Hatton became the
first private owner of Corfe Castle. Hatton was the son of Northamptonshire
gentry who caught the eye of Queen Elizabeth I and quickly established himself
as a court favourite.
With the Queen’s patronage, he rose to become Lord
Chancellor, the most senior judge in England, despite having left Oxford
University without a degree and apparently never having qualified as a
lawyer. Among his titles was Admiral of the Purbeck Fleet, which gave him
the right to fit out warships both to defend England against invaders and to
capture enemy vessels as prizes – a sort of licensed piracy.
Hatton remained close to Elizabeth I until his death in
1591, when he was given a state funeral and buried at St Paul’s Cathedral. A
magnificent monument to him stood there until it was destroyed by the Great
Fire of London in 1666.
Hatton never married, so his estates, including Corfe
Castle, passed to his nephew William Newport, who changed his name to Hatton in
order to take up his inheritance.
In the succeeding generations, the castle passed into the
hands of the Bankes family, prominent members of the Dorset gentry,
who turned the former stronghold into their country seat.
In the 1640s, England was in the grip of civil war and Corfe
Castle found itself on the front line of conflict between Parliament and King
Charles I.
The Bankes family supported King Charles I
(the Cavaliers) against Oliver Cromwell (the Roundheads).
Lady Mary Bankes led the defence of Corfe
Castle during not just one but two sieges while her husband was away
serving the King. Corfe’s tiny garrison was outnumbered; Mary, along with her
daughters and maids, defended the battlements until she was betrayed by
one of her own soldiers.
After six centuries of keeping enemies at bay, an Act of
Parliament was passed at Wareham to destroy Corfe Castle. Captain Hughes of
Lulworth was given the job of demolishing it. His sappers dug deep holes packed
with gunpowder to bring the towers and ramparts crashing down, resulting in the
yawning gaps and crazy angles we see today.
We had lunch in the Greyhound Inn just outside the castle, then caught the bus back to Swanage. We spent some time around the sea front in the glorious sunshine. The air was clear and there were great views across the sea to the west side of the Isle of Wight. The clouds above the island were a sign of the bad weather being experienced to the east of us.
The next day, after some heavy early morning rain we decided to once again catch the bus and head to Studland and beyond. We actually took the Studland Chain Ferry and crossed the small entrance to Poole Harbour. I always remember this as the King Harry Ferry, but I believe that chain ferry was replaced a few year ago.
We got off on Sandbanks and had coffee in a cafe overlooking the sea. The sea was much rougher than that we had seen in Swanage. We made our way back to the ferry, walking alongside the shore of the Poole Harbour. The tide was out and the blue sky and clouds looked spectacular over the Brownsea Island.
Does it look more spectacular in black and white?
We caught the bus and crossed back to Studland. We were having dinner in the Pig in Studland so decided to get off in the village and walk to check where to go. After passing the Pig we walked down to the Middle Beach where there was a cafe. We spent some time enjoying the food and drink and the view across Studland Bay towards Old Harry's Rocks.
And again in black and white
We caught the bus back to the Studio and then later caught it once again, back to Studland. After dinner in the restaurant we came out on to the lawn. The sun was setting and was highlighting the chalk of the cliffs that end in Old Harry. Almost the perfect end to the day and weekend.
As we walked to the bus stop to catch our last bus of the weekend we stopped to take in the sky across the fields where sheep were setting down for the night
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