Corfe Castle is the name of a village and of the ruined castle to be found there. The village was an area of occupation c.6000 BC and was probably still so c.50AD during the Roman occupation. It is an area of limestone in the Purbeck Hills, Dorset, and many of the the village buildings and roofs are made of this stone. The castle we see today was founded shortly after 1066AD. In the Civil War of the C17 Corfe Castle was a Royalist stronghold and after hostilities ended Parliament ordered that it be "slighted" i.e. deliberately wrecked with explosives. What we see today is the remains following the slighting with further damage by local people who saw it as a useful quarry for building stone. It was my misfortune to see it on an afternoon when the sky was virtually cloudless.
photo © T. Boughen Camera: Nikon Z 5
