One camera … a castle … a bit of Dorset

The romantic in me would like to think that in the summer of 1643 Lady Mary Bankes might have stared out of this window down on the Parliamentarian forces who were besieging the castle.

Lady Mary's view, Corfe Castle, 1983

She was holding the fortification for the Royalist cause in the Civil War which had broken out the year before.

The castle, 1983

The siege was broken off in the August but two years later the army of Parliament returned and was successful in capturing the castle. *

My Wikipedia tells me that “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” **

It was sold on by Elizabeth 1st and was eventually bought by the Bankes family in 1635.

Not that I knew anything about it’s past when we happened in the place during a short summer holiday in Swanage which is just over 5 miles from Corfe.

Nor can I remember much of either the town or the holiday, suffice to say that the pictures I took over 40 years ago record long walks along the beach, the stunning cliffs and a few of Swanage.  

Swanage Town Hall, 1983

Of these there is an indifferent photo of the Town Hall, which Wikipedia says was “Constructed by the local building contractor George Burt in 1882–83, it reused materials salvaged from demolition works in London. 

The façade was rescued from London's 17th-century Mercers' Hall and the external clock is dated to 1826. It was not universally welcomed and one critic in the 1930s described it as ‘positively dreadful’. The hall serves as the chamber for the current town council and has previously hosted the magistrates' court, fire brigade and citizens' advice service”.***

Four decades on the streets near where we stayed haven’t changed that much, although one of them does look a little shabbier and has lost its street name.

But I rather think I located the holiday property and just wonder how different the interior looks from when we stayed there.

Back then the décor and furniture were fixed sometime in the 1960s and the place suffered from only being used a few times a year.

Marshall Row, 1983

And so there so there was a feel of quiet neglect compounded with a slight mustiness, made worse by the dust which caught the morning sunshine.

That said the beach, The Downs and the shops were just a few minutes away.

Revisiting the place forty-two years later I must confess that I can’t remember much else about the town, other than a curious conversation with a man in a pub, who offered us a drink back at his place.

In what seemed a more innocent time I was up for going but my companions were less sure and looking back I guess "stranger danger" was more appropriate. 

He may have been lonely or just friendly but the invitation was not taken up and we walked out into the night looking for a chippy and the offi.

And his collection of fossils and Purbeck stone were left to gain their own film of dust, along with stories and book on Corfe Castle.

The armchair, Park Road, 1983

Location; Corfe Castle and Swanage

Pictures; a castle and a town, 1983, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Lady Mary Bankes and the fall of Corfe Castle, Poole Museum Society Blog, https://poolemuseumsociety.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/lady-mary-bankes-and-the-fall-of-corfe-castle/

**Corfe Castle, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corfe_Castle

***Swanage Town Hall, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swanage_Town_Hall

A castle ..... heaps of horseshoes ...... and a museum ...... down in Oakham

I like other people’s pictures especially when they come from the family, and so I was especially pleased to receive a heap of holiday photographs from our Elizabeth.

She and Colin were in Oakham which my Wikipedia tells me is a “market town and civil parish in 25 miles east of Leicester, [with] a population of 12,149*.

And because we all like all things old and quant their accommodation was just a few minutes’ walk  from Oakham Castle.

Its not one I knew and to be strictly accurate was less a castle and more a "fortified manor house [with] many of the traditional features of a castle such as a curtain wall, a gatehouse and a drawbridge with iron chains.

There is also historical and archaeological evidence to suggest that Oakham Castle possessed towers at strategic points along the walls as well as a moat”.   

Today all that has survived is the Great Hall and the gateway into the marketplace.

But that was enough for our Elizabeth who recorded bits of the place along with exhibits from the museum including lots of horseshoes which the castle is famous for.

And for those that like the history, “the castle was built between 1180 and 1190 by Walkelin de Ferrers, lord of the manor of Oakham, and a great nephew of Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby.

The Great Hall comprises a nave and two arcaded aisles, each with three large stone columns. 

There are a number of 12th-century sculptures decorating the hall including six musicians that are supported by the columns. 

The sculptures are carved from local stone quarried at Clipsham and are believed to have been made by masons who had also worked at Canterbury Cathedral”.**

And I have to say I did like the information panels which are crisp in design and very  informative.

At which point I could loop off into a detailed description, but where would be the point in that given that the pictures do the place credit and there are always the guide books and online information, for a castle which is free to visit.

Leaving me just to thank Elizabeth and Colin for the images.

And conclude that their accommodation looked excellent and was indeed just a step away from the property.

Location; Oakham

Pictures, the castle and much more 2024, from the collection of Elizabeth Fitzpatrick

*Oakham, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakham 

** Oakham Castle, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakham_Castle

The tower by the arboretum ...... and stories of unsettled times ..... the French picture

Now I like Ann’s picture of this 13th century French tower close to where she lives.

Part of the reason is just because I like other people’s pictures, and their insight into what is interesting.

Added to which it is a beautiful photograph, and conjures up a sense of tranquillity which I don’t always feel and according to Ann the tower “is surrounded by an arboretum, which was planted by a wealthy merchant in the 19th century, and is a wonderful place to walk our dog”.

But the details of the tower offer up a far more grim reality, and remind us that across Europe the Middle Ages were an unsafe place.

The windows on the tower are small and the single entrance is equally small and easily defensible.

Many similar fortifications would have had the added precaution of a door way higher up which would haven accessed by a flight of wooden stairs which in an emergency could be destroyed.

So much for tranquillity.

And having read the draft I sent to her, Ann added that this is the Tour du Guesclin, and "When we first came over our French neighbours took great delight in telling us the story that the English, who were in possession of the tower, allowed some French woodsmen in to deliver wood, as they were very cold. 

The French turned out to be soldiers, and slaughtered the English,  and 'there was blood everywhere '! So much for tranquillity.  Time moves on".

Location; France



Picture; Tour du Guesclin, 13th century, 2018, from the collection of Ann Love.