A great set of ruins... (Corfe Castle)

Member Name: valve90210

Product:	Corfe Castle
Date:	21/07/09 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some amaizing views, Interesting history of the Castle

Disadvantages: Not enough signage to explain what you are seeing

When I turned 30 earlier this year one of my gifts was a National Trust membership for myself and my girlfriend. My first thought was that it was definitely a sign that I was getting old...especially as my very next thought was that it was a brilliant gift!

I have lost count of the number of times my girlfriend and I have wanted a day out and struggled to think of anywhere to go, and even when we have, the cost has often been pretty steep, so now, to have the whole of the National Trust to choose from and to get free parking and entry would be great.

We recently went for a short break near Poole and decided to take a visit to some of the local attractions and of course make use of the membership. We decided upon Corfe Castle.

I have to say, I don't really know exactly where the castle is located because I just found the castle using a set of National Trust 'points of interest' on my Sat Nav and followed where it said to go. I do know that the journey from Bournemouth where we were staying was simple and didn't take too long, about 30 minutes I think.

We were going early and when we arrived there were very few cars in the NT car park (free to members). At the entrance to the castle is a visitors centre which is free to enter for everyone and contains quite a bit of information about the castle and it's history, along with details of the design of the castle and several interesting items that have been found during digs at the castle, such as pottery, cannonballs etc.

Once we had finished looking around the visitors centre we set off for the castle. The beginning of the journey was a fairly gentle walk around the bottom of the hill the castle is located on. After a while the gradient increases a little but is still I would think manageable for most people. Once you have reached the village of Corfe (which is about halfway up the castles' hill, you can buy your tickets for the castle (free admission for members...yay!) and go on to the castle. Crossing the wooden bridge to the entrance tower the view of the castle up upon the hill was great.

The Castle itself stood as a stronghold for Royalists during the English Civil War, eventually captured in 1646 it was ordered to be destroyed. The results of the destruction can clearly be seen today, with several towers at precarious angles and one entrance clearly cracked in two. It is really quite a sight to see.

As with a lot of castles of this type, it is quite fun to try to imagine what it might have been like back in it ins former glory.

As well as the quite incredible nature of the stone work and the remains, with the castle standing on a large hill, there are some great views across the countryside to enjoy.

My only criticism of the castle is the fact that although there is a guide book you can purchase which gives you information about the castle, there is very little sign posting or labelling of the really interesting and impressive parts of the castle on the actual site.

Some castles I have visited (even ones in ruins such as Tintagel) have had little plaques all over the place explaining briefly what you are looking at, this would have been a nice, and useful, addition to this castle.

I would recommend this to anyopne who is interested in castles as it is quite amaizing to see the way in which it has been destroyed. I would also recommend spending a good bit of time in the visitor centre at the bottom as it has quite a lot of information about the castles history which is very interesting.

All in all, it's a good place to visit to spend a morning. Once you are done with the castle you can also check out the village just outside the castle where there are pubs/restaurants and tea rooms and some lovely buildings many of which were built using stone from the castle remains.

Summary: Certainly worth a visit (especially for NT members)