Exploring England’s Corfe Castle

My love of castles continues, although the one I am sharing today has seen better days.  I had actually passed Corfe Castle more than a year ago when we were driving to the Pig on the Beach and wanted to stop – though I thought stopping would only be a five minute thing.  We did not have time then so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out it was one of the planned stops as part of my birthday weekend.

This castle is certainly a far cry from the one I recently visited in Bratislava with gold chandeliers and marble stairways as it is practically a ruin.  From the road it looks like a bunch of stones you can just hike up to but little did I know it dated back to the 1100’s and is actually a National Trust museum with a formal ticket office, map, and tours.  On the morning we visited I texted my mom some of the photos below she marvelled at not only how blue the sky was but also what it looked like in it’s prime.  Wandering through the old stones, I could not help but wonder either, and some of the reconstructed drawings helped give a better picture.  Take a look: 

While gorgeous, I must admit it is not the easiest place to get to – located between Wareham and Swanage you really need to have a car to get here but if you are visiting the Durdle Door or the Jurassic Coast I highly suggest adding an hour to stop here and take in the grandeur.   Though don’t be surprised, to visit the ruin you will need to pay £10 per adult or £25 per family to enter unless you are member of the National Trust. 

Does Corfe Castle look like the kind of place you would want to visit?