The history of this place can be traced back over 200 million years. Along the southern lands of England there was once a dry climate which we would not recognise today, and after further millions of years had passed we would have seen the emergence of a warmth and moisture which caused sea levels to rise, with an explosion of plant life and the arrival of animals, birds and insects in a staggering variety of forms. All this is well documented by fossil records along the Jurassic coast.
Then man joined this scene when the world was already old. There is much evidence of settlements which existed 8,000 years ago; a mere blink of an eye in geological terms.
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| Corfe Castle, Dorset |
Such a place is Corfe Castle in Dorset. Here, there were Celtic communities which had migrated from the middle east (to see a brief synopsis of the turmoil in middle east civilisations at that time, see my post about Aleppo). There are also many older burial sites at Corfe of those who had crossed the land bridge from Europe. Trade in copper, pottery and manufactured crafts produced thriving communities which ran adjacent to farming. This continued unbroken well into the Roman age where villas and industrial sites can be seen...although there were one or two hiccups on the way. There are stories of a Roman legion which disappeared leaving only a ghostly presence which many have claimed to have seen on cold windy nights in winter. Where the legion came from we don’t know, although there was undoubtedly a huge and bloody battle at Maiden Castle which resulted in the destruction of the local tribe of Celts (see my post about Maiden Castle to get a feel for what happened). And then, after the Romans left in the 5th Century there was constant warfare with invaders from Germany and Scandinavia. This culminated in an enormous sea battle off Swanage where the Viking fleet, about 100 ships, was soundly beaten by the Saxon King, King Alfred, and this is where our story really starts. In order to cement his victory, he started to build Corfe Castle on a hilltop to keep watch for any further incursions. This was in the year 885. But then, because there was no external threat, the usual internal rivalries and murders began to take place which prompted the Danes to return. So followed many decades of “disagreements”, deaths and murders. Then, enter the Normans. This immediately resulted in the building of the stone castle to replace the older structure, and which remained a royal stronghold until medieval times. True to form, there was much torture and murder there with successive kings and queens being involved. Edward ll was imprisoned there, Henry Vll and Henry Vlll both knew the castle well and eventually Elizabeth l sold it when it was further developed to help withstand the threat of a Spanish invasion.
Naturally, there was more murder and mayhem to follow. During the civil war the castle was besieged by Parliamentary forces and eventually fell after two sieges in 1645. The defence was organised by one of the unsung heroines of our history, Lady Bankes. She was only beaten after one of her trusted aides turned traitor. Such was the strength of Corfe Castle that it was ordered to be systematically blown up, which resulted in its almost complete destruction.
So, what you see today is a shell which lifts its shattered walls to the sky, perched on the top of a hill which dominates the surrounding countryside. There are broken columns of masonry and walls which lean at awkward angles like the ribs of a disjointed and tortured animal. It radiates a very strong feeling of the history and turbulence of this castle from times now long past.
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| Corfe Castle, Dorset |
It now gets even more interesting. In addition to ghosts from Roman times, countless harsh and painful deaths over the centuries including the wholesale massacre at Maiden Castle, the bare bones of Corfe then began to inspire...even attract...a wide variety of spirits. Strange lights have been seen moving randomly within the ruins (see my book Catacombs of the Damned, chapter 14 to get a feeling for the destructive forces of “will o’the wisps” which such lights are called) and there are frantic weeping and cries from children heard at night, presumably from the dreadful aftermath of the sacking of the castle where there would have been uncontrolled killing of defenders, regardless of sex or age. But the most chilling of all the stories is that of a headless woman who wafts through the ruins, dressed all in white and who freezes the blood of those whom she meets. They shake in terror until she just fades away.
So Corfe is a place of long and violent history where the variety of spectres from the archaeological remains give a special ambience to one of England’s great castles. But if you visit it at night when the storms rage, go with a friend.
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