Corfe Castle: Explore the thousand-year-old English castle in Corfe Castle, Dorset

Corfe Castle: Explore the thousand-year-old English castle in Corfe Castle, Dorset
Since Mom didn't want to fly, we sailed aboard the Queen Mary 2. We embarked at the Queen Mary 2 Terminal at Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York and were on board for seven days. The Queen Mary 2 docked in Southampton around 5 AM, and we disembarked around 10:30. On the first trip we booked coach service (a bus) to London and picked up our rental car there, but the second time we arranged to pick it up at the Southampton Airport and for a car to take us there.
Our first stop on this trip was Corfe Castle. It is located in the village of Corfe Castle on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. The name "Corfe" comes from the Old English "ceorfan" which means "a cutting" in reference to the island cut by rivers in the gap between two hills on which the castle is located. Corfe Castle is one of the Royal Castles built by William the Conqueror shortly after his arrival in 1066. As a Royal Castle it was used as a residence by the reigning monarch, rather than being given to one of the earls. William the Conqueror and his son Henry I are our ancestors.
Traces of a Saxon Hall have been found at the site of Corfe Castle, and this hall may be the location of the murder of Edward the Martyr in 978.
Unlike most castles of the time, which were initially made of wood and rebuilt in stone later, Corfe Castle was built using Purbeck limestone quarried nearby. King Henry I began the construction of the keep, which was completed by 1105.
Both King John and his son Henry III, our ancestors, kept Eleanor, the Fair Maid of Brittany, prisoner at Corfe Castle for some of the 39 years she was held. Eleanor was the rightful Duchess of Brittany and Countess of Richmond. Her sister Alix, our ancestor, was named Duchess of Brittany in her absence. Her brother Arthur was taken prisoner at the same time and held at a different location, but he mysteriously disappeared. During King John's reign the Gloriette Tower was built and became Eleanor's home during her stay.
The camp for people working on the castle which formed outside the walls grew into the village of Corfe Castle. By 1247 it was granted its own market and fair. In 1244 Henry had the Corfe Castle keep whitewashed just as he had the Tower of London four years before.
In 1572 Corfe Castle was sold to Sir Christopher Hatton. Sir John Bankes bought the castle in 1635. Despite a valiant resistance by his wife Lady Mary, Corfe Castle was finally taken by the Parliamentarian forces. Parliament voted to "slight" Corfe Castle, which means to destroy it so that it can not be used militarily in the future. It was returned, in its present state, to the Bankes family in 1660.
We parked near a church on the outskirts of the village and had to walk through town to get to the castle. Mom has an affinity for thatched-roof houses, and there are several in Corfe Castle village, as well as many with slate. The town hall had a sign on the wall stating that it is the smallest town hall building in England. Near "the Square" we saw the Greyhound Pub, which claims to be the most photographed pub in England. So, you know, we took a photo.
The castle itself is approached through the mostly-intact outer gate. The visitor center/ticket office are just outside. We signed up for a National Trust membership here. The National Trust only has yearly memberships, so we bought much more than we needed. They have many properties, but we really didn't get our money's worth from it. The gatehouse into the inner bailey was damaged during the slighting, and is split down the middle. Very little of anything else is left. The Royal Castles seem to have been more completely demolished than the other castles.
Our William the Conqueror lineage
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Our King Stephen lineage
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Our King Henry III lineage
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Our Eleanor of Brittany lineage
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Corfe Castle Official Site
corfe-castle.co.uk
Corfe Castle at the National Trust
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Corfe Castle at Wikipedia
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The Corfe Castle Facebook Page
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As a rough rule of thumb, castles that had been held for King Charles I were slighted by the victorious Parliamentarians at the close of the Civil War. Corfe was famously held by the lady of the castle against besieging Cromwellian forces until a servant betrayed her by opening a gate. Corfe is one of hundreds of 'royalist' castles and fortified country houses that were either demolished or slighted by Parliament. Castles in Parliamentary hands, for example Dover and Warwick, were left un-slighted although Parliament did discuss demolishing Windsor Castle

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While doing some research for something else I discovered that our ancestors William de Braose and his mother Maud de St. Valery were arrested and walled up in the dungeon at Corfe Castle and allowed to starve to death. Maud's husband, William II de Braose, had been responsible to the care taking of Arthur of Brittany, brother to the Fair Maid Eleanor. William II was in charge of the castle from which Arthur disappeared and was subsequently murdered. It was suspected that William II may have done the deed himself. He was in trouble with the king, John, for other reasons as well so he fled to Ireland. When John sent men to search Ireland William II went back to Wales then fled to France in 1210. Maud, his wife, had been very vocal in her beliefs that King John himself was responsible for Arthur's death. She and her son William were arrested along with some of William's children. The children were released a few years later.