Corfe Castle | |
---|---|
Village and civil parish | |
Corfe Castle | |
Location within Dorset | |
Area | 14.5 sq mi (38 km2) |
Population | 1,355 (parish) |
• Density | 93/sq mi (36/km2) |
OS grid reference | SY957823 |
Civil parish |
|
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | WAREHAM |
Postcode district | BH20 |
Dialling code | 01929 |
Police | Dorset |
Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
Corfe Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It is the site of a ruined castle of the same name. The village and castle stand over a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The village lies in the gap below the castle and is around four miles (6.4 km) south-east of Wareham, and four miles (6.4 km) north-northwest of Swanage. Both the main A351 road from Lytchett Minster to Swanage and the Swanage Railway thread their way through the gap and the village.
The civil parish of Corfe Castle stretches across the width of the Isle of Purbeck, with coasts facing both the English Channel and Poole Harbour. It, therefore, includes sections of both the low-lying sandy heathland that lies to the north of the castle and the rugged Jurassic Coast upland to the south.
The name "Corfe" is derived from the Old English word, ceorfan, meaning to cut or carve, referring to the gap in the Purbeck hills where Corfe Castle is situated. [1]
Burial mounds around Corfe Common to the south of Corfe Castle suggest that the area was occupied from 6000 BC. The common also points to a later Celtic field system worked by the Durotriges tribe. Evidence suggests that the tribe co-existed with the Romans in a trading relationship following the Roman invasion c. 50 AD. [2]
King Edward the Martyr was murdered in Corfe on the evening of 18 March 978. [3]
In the Middle Ages there was a considerable marble carving and stone cutting industry in the village. [4] Purbeck stone was shipped all round the country from Ower Quay in Poole harbour. [5]
In the 18th century, ball clay quarrying developed as an industry in the village. By the middle of the century, with the arrival of William Pike – a merchant from Devon, activity expanded significantly. In 1791 Pike signed a five-year contract with Josiah Wedgwood to supply 1,200 tons of clay and search for further deposits. [6] From the 1796 Corfe Castle Census of the 96 men involved in local industries and living in the town, 55 were clay cutters. Clay extraction continued to provide major employment for the local population until the 20th century.
The village had two watermills, West Mill on the River Wicken ceased operating in 1792 but the building was used for poor housing until 1915. Stone from the building was used to construct the World War 1 war memorial. [7] The other mill was Boar Mill on the Byle Brook. The mill cottage was later used as a bakery. The Grade II listed mill and cottage [8] are now owned by the National Trust. [9]
The parish of Corfe Castle encompasses a broad swathe of the Isle of Purbeck and has an area of 14+1⁄2 square miles (37.45 km2). To the south, it includes the smaller village of Kingston and a section of the Jurassic Coast facing the English Channel. To the north, it includes a large area of heathland stretching as far as the southern shore of Poole Harbour, where Furzey, Green, Long and Round little islands also form part of the parish. [10] To the north west on a clear day, the Mendip Hills in Somerset can be seen in the distance from the castle. The village is constructed almost entirely from the local grey Purbeck limestone and comprises two main streets, East Street and West Street, linked at their north end at the Square.
The National Trust runs a shop and a tearoom in the village, [11] both are Grade II listed buildings. [12] [13] The Corfe Model Village, located on the village square, is a 1⁄20 scale model that shows what the castle and village would have looked like in 1646 before the castle was slighted. [14] Within the Church of St. Edward is an alabaster reredos inset with carvings in white marble, designed by the famous Victorian architect George Edmund Street R.A., which was presented by Lord Eldon in 1876. [15] A cross in the square commemorates Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee of 1897. Next to the cross is a defunct village pump, bearing the village's arms. [16] Mortons House Hotel, a Grade II* listed building, was built in 1590 and is one of the most notable buildings in the village. [17] Corfe Castle Town Hall, also Grade II listed, in West Street, was built in around 1774. [18]
The castle stands above the village and dates back in some form to the 10th century. It was the site of the murder of Edward the Martyr in 978. During the English Civil War it was a Royalist stronghold and was besieged twice, in 1643 and again in 1646. It is currently owned by the National Trust and is open to the public.
The former royal status of Corfe meant that it existed as a borough electing two Members of Parliament (MPs). In the 17th and 18th centuries, with the Bankes's owning much of the property and thereby controlling most of the votes, the town was a rotten borough. The Bankes family was able to ensure that at least one of the MPs returned to the House of Commons was a member of the family or a Bankes nominee. The Reform Act 1832 abolished the rotten boroughs, and Corfe lost its direct representation. The village and castle were part of Corfe Castle hundred.
The parish later formed part of the District of Purbeck. It is within the South Dorset constituency of the House of Commons. Prior to Brexit in 2020 it was in the South West England constituency of the European Parliament. [10] [19] [20] There is an electoral ward called Castle which is based on the village, but this includes Studland and the intermediate areas. The total population of Castle ward is 1,780. [21]
After 2019 structural changes to local government in England, Corfe Castle is part of the South East Purbeck ward which elects 1 member to Dorset Council. [22]
In the 2011 census Corfe Castle civil parish had 738 dwellings, [23] 612 households and a population of 1,355. [24]
The main route through the village is East Street which forms part of the A351 main road taking traffic to Wareham in the north and Swanage in the south. Separating the two streets is an area of common land called "the Halves".
Corfe Castle railway station lies to the east of East Street, adjacent to the village centre. Originally the only intermediate station on the London and South Western Railway's branch line from Wareham to Swanage, the station is now a stop on the Swanage Railway, a steam locomotive operated heritage railway. The railway links the tourist centres of Corfe Castle and Swanage with each other, and with a Park and Ride site at Norden station just to the north of Corfe Castle. On some days, diesel trains also run to Wareham, where they connect with National Rail services to London, Southampton, Bournemouth and Weymouth.
The village was for many years the residence of composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji. [25]
This section needs additional citations for verification .(July 2023) |
Keith Roberts, an English science fiction writer who lived nearby, set his alternative history novel Pavane partly around the castle.
The children's author Enid Blyton spent time in the area, and some of her adventure stories like The Famous Five (Kirrin Island) featured castles that were said to be based on Corfe Castle.[ by whom? ] In 1957 the Children's Film Foundation (CFF) film "Five on a Treasure Island" was filmed in and around Corfe Castle, Corfe Castle Village and the Jurassic Coast (Durdle Door and Stairhole at Lulworth Cove).
Corfe was featured in the 1971 film Bedknobs and Broomsticks released by The Walt Disney Company, doubling as the fictional village of Pepperinge Eye. [26]
The Castle itself and the Greyhound Inn feature prominently in Mike Leigh's 1976 TV play Nuts in May. [27] The two main characters, Keith and Candice-Marie, pay a visit to the castle during their camping holiday.
The back of Corfe Castle plus Oliver's Bistro in Corfe Castle Village are featured in the German TV thriller At the End of the Silence based on the novel by Charlotte Link.
An episode of Mary Queen of Shops centred on Mary Portas revamping the village's convenience store. [28]
Featured in the time-slip novel, The Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine.
The Studland and Godlingston Heaths NNR is located on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. It borders Studland Bay on the south side of Poole Harbour, between the settlements of Swanage and Sandbanks. Extending to 631ha, it is owned and managed by the National Trust following the Bankes bequest of the Kingston Lacy estate. Studland & Godlingston Heath is designated as one of only 35 "spotlight reserves" in England by Natural England in the list of national nature reserves in England and is listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Swanage is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately 6+1⁄4 miles (10 km) south of Poole and 25 miles (40 km) east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 9,601. Nearby are Ballard Down and Old Harry Rocks, with Studland Bay and Poole Harbour to the north. Within the parish are Durlston Bay and Durlston Country Park to the south of the town. The parish also includes the areas of Herston, just to the west of the town, and Durlston, just to the south.
The Isle of Purbeck is a peninsula in Dorset, England. It is bordered by water on three sides: the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the north. Its western boundary is less well defined, with some medieval sources placing it at Flower's Barrow above Worbarrow Bay. John Hutchins, author of The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset, defined Purbeck's western boundary as the Luckford Lake steam, which runs south from the Frome. According to writer and broadcaster Ralph Wightman, Purbeck "is only an island if you accept the barren heaths between Arish Mell and Wareham as cutting off this corner of Dorset as effectively as the sea." The most southerly point is St Alban's Head.
Wareham is a historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles (13 km) southwest of Poole.
Purbeck was a local government district in Dorset, England. The district was named after the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula that forms a large proportion of the district's area. However, it extended significantly further north and west than the traditional boundary of the Isle of Purbeck which is the River Frome. The district council was based in the town of Wareham, which is itself north of the Frome.
Langton Matravers is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Purbeck, in the county of Dorset in the south of England. It is situated about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Swanage town centre and 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Corfe Castle. In the 2011 Census the civil parish had 381 households and a population of 853.
Worth Matravers is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The village is situated on the cliffs west of Swanage. It comprises limestone cottages and farm houses and is built around a pond, which is a regular feature on postcards of the Isle of Purbeck.
Church Knowle is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Purbeck in the county of Dorset in the south of England.
The Swanage Railway is a railway branch line from near Wareham, Dorset to Swanage, Dorset, England, opened in 1885 and now operated as a heritage railway.
South Dorset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Richard Drax, a Conservative. The constituency was created as a consequence of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, although the area covered has changed since then.
Wareham railway station serves the historic market town of Wareham in Dorset, England. It is situated about 0.6 miles (1 km) north of the town centre. It is 120 miles 70 chains (194.5 km) down the line from London Waterloo. On tickets it is printed "Wareham Dorset" to avoid confusion with Ware railway station.
Swanage railway station is a railway station located in Swanage, on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. Originally the terminus of a London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) branch line from Wareham, the line and station were closed by British Rail in 1972. It has since reopened as a station on the Swanage Railway, a heritage railway that currently runs from Norden station just north of Corfe Castle to Swanage station. It now also runs to Wareham on certain services, but not on regular services due to signalling problems.
Herston Halt railway station is a railway station located at Herston near Swanage, on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. It is an intermediate station on the Swanage Railway, a heritage railway that currently operates from Swanage to Norden.
Harman's Cross railway station is a railway station located in the village of Harman's Cross, on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. It is an intermediate station on the Swanage Railway, a heritage railway that currently operates from Swanage to Norden.
Corfe Castle railway station is a railway station located in the village of Corfe Castle, in the English county of Dorset. Originally an intermediate station on the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) branch line from Wareham to Swanage, the line and station were closed by British Rail in 1972. It has since reopened as a station on the Swanage Railway, a heritage railway that runs regularly from Norden station just north of Corfe Castle to Swanage station. The line also connects Wareham and Norden.
Norden railway station is a railway station located one mile to the north of the village of Corfe Castle, on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. It is situated on the Swanage Railway, a heritage railway that operates over the former London and South Western Railway line from Wareham to Swanage. Norden is the northern terminus of the railway's steam service from Swanage, and an intermediate stop on the railway's diesel hauled service that connects Swanage with the national rail network at Wareham station.
Harman's Cross is a small village on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A351 road between Swanage and Corfe Castle.
The Middlebere Plateway, or Middlebere Tramway, was a horse-drawn plateway on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. One of the first railways in southern England and the first in Dorset, the plateway was built by Benjamin Fayle, who was a wealthy Irish Merchant based in London and a friend of Thomas Byerley - Josiah Wedgwood's nephew. It was intended to take Purbeck Ball Clay from his pits near Corfe Castle to a wharf on Middlebere Creek in Poole Harbour, a distance of some 3.5 miles (5.6 km).
Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The first phase was one of the earliest castles in England to be built at least partly using stone when the majority were built with earth and timber. Corfe Castle underwent major structural changes in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Furzebrook is a small village on the Isle of Purbeck, in the county of Dorset in the south of England. It is about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Wareham and 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Corfe Castle, and is in the civil parish of Church Knowle.