Corfe Castle walk

[puddleshark]

Since my last visit to Corfe Castle, the National Trust has planted portraits in the ruins. They lurk in odd corners, trying to startle me into falling down the steps.



Managed to get my car to the garage this morning without it breaking down on the way. It should take two or three days for the instrument cluster to be sent off, repaired, sent back. Then I took advantage of the still-capped-at-£2 bus fares to head over to Corfe Castle. (My sister said the £2 fare was due to end on the 31st October, but the bus company have obviously extended it. Maybe they really like having their buses full all the time).


I had originally planned a walk through the fields along the Corfe Valley, but after all the rain we've had in the past few weeks, the going is very very soggy. So instead I walked along the narrow lane that runs along the foot of the Purbeck Hills.





A quiet lane. Few cars. Pleasant walking. Sheltered from the fresh west wind, except on the rises. All along the way, the hedges red with hips and haws.






Corfe Castle church in the distance.


Sunken lane.

Came down the hill into Corfe village just as the clock on the churchtower was striking ten, and took coffee in the tea room of the Model Village. Tourists to the Model Village must be a rough crowd. The bouncer is wearing armour.



While I was sitting in the courtyard drinking my coffee, someone came through the arch and greeted the suit of armour with a cheery "Hello, mate".


A perfect scone. Ten out of ten. And the coffee was nice too.

Then I had just time to climb the castle before catching my bus home.














Another lurking portrait.




It is a very ruined castle. After it fell to Parliamentarian forces in 1646, it was comprehensively destroyed.

During the next few months the peace of the small village of Corfe was shattered by a series of huge explosions as the demolishers undermined and then blew up the castle structures. Sections of curtain wall were toppled down the hillside and the towers left ruined and tilting. The 13th century gateway leading to the west bailey was split into two, with the south tower slipping several feet to the south. In the west bailey, the Butavent Tower dating from about 1202, was undermined and badly damaged. Hardest of all to destroy was probably the early 12th century keep itself with its walls 12 to 15 feet thick. After the structure had been weakened by undermining, it was torn apart by massive explosions, the whole of the north side falling across the inner ward in a jumble of masonry and fractured timbers.

https://poolemuseumsociety.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/lady-mary-bankes-and-the-fall-of-corfe-castle/

I had the zoom lens on the camera today, so didn't take any shots of the whole castle, but here's what it looks like from a distance:


Image courtesy of Wikimedia.


View of the village (which is mostly post-1646, and built with stone from the castle).




Castle jackdaw.

Comments

[mallorys_camera]

Quite the picturesque castle and town (at least from above.) I'm impressed that carlessness has not impacted yr wanderlust in a negative way! 😀

[kaishin108]

What a beautiful castle and what a shame it was destroyed. Your first photo, that woman portrait is very spooky!

[bleodswean]

So much stone! Just lovely beyond words. Love that close up of your coffee and scone, too!

What's the story with the portraits?

[puddleshark]

It's a very picturesque village, but an absolute traffic nightmare in summer - a single badly parked car in the Square causes complete gridlock...

The bus services down to Corfe and the coast are actually pretty good - one doubledecker bus every hour. And if you can make it up the stairs, the views are wonderful.

[puddleshark]

For some reason, I found the portraits really unsettling. Though I'm pretty sure that was not the National Trust's intent. They just like 'interpreting' the ruins for visitors.

The castle's loss was the village's gain. The cottages are all built of stone looted from the castle, and it's a really beautiful village.

[puddleshark]

The National Trust does go a bit overboard with the interpretation sometimes. There are photographic portraits of people pretending to be characters from the castle's history, and there are little displays where you can press a button and hear an audio presentation. I suppose it's fun for children who visit (if they're not freaked out by the portraits, and I suppose most children are made of sterner stuff than I am...)

[kaishin108]

Oh that is great then, the looted stone for the village, tata! :D

Yes, very unsettling, a haunted feeling.