Photos of the Beautiful Medieval Norman Corfe Castle England

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Photos of the Late Medieval Corfe Castle Fortifications & Keep Ruins, Dorset, England. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams.    (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Late Medieval Corfe Castle Fortifications & Keep Ruins

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Photos of the Medieval Norman Corfe Castle ruins, Dorset, England.

One of the iconic romantic views of England is Corfe Castle at sunrise. Set on top of a high pointed steep hill the shattered Keep and walls of Corfe Castle hint of its power before it great walls were pulled down after it fell to Parliamentarian forces in 1645.

Corfe Castle was founded by William the Conqueror shortly after 1066. William the Conqueror built 36 castles to subdue the British after he conquerored England. He used to visit Corfe Castle to go hunting in the royal forest of Purbeck. Corfe Castle commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage.

The keep of Corfe castle is built on a steep conical hill. The outer curtain walls enclose one side of the hill to the towered entrance. This is protected by a deep ditch over which is a draw bridge.

Corfe Castle remained a Royal castle until 1572 when it was sold by Elizabeth I to her chancellor Sir Christopher Hatton. Corfe Castle was then bought in 1635 by Sir John Bankes, Attorney General to Charles I.

When the English Civil War broke out Corfe Castle was held in the name of the King. This was to be a fateful moment for Corfe Castle and by 1645 it was one of the last Royalist strongholds in the south. It was besieged and fell to Parliamentary Forces. Parliament voted to Slight the castle by pulling its walls down.

Today Corfe Castle is a great medieval ruined castle and it is easy to image it in its heyday sitting in all its glory in the Dorset countryside.