CORFE CASTLE is an ancient market-town, nearly in the centre of the Isle of Purbeck, situated on a rising ground, below a range of hills. This was a town of great repute before the-Norman Conquest, having the same privileges as the Cinque Ports, its magistrates in old writs being styled barons. It consists of two streets. The town is separated from the castle by a stately bridge, of four very high arches, over a very deep dry ditch. On the west side of the churchyard is the Town-Hall. It has a large lofty Church, which is a royal peculiar, exempt from episcopal jurisdiction or visitation. It consists of a nave, a chancel, and two aisles as long as the church. The tower is very large, embattled, and pinnacled, with some singular statues under it, supported by four Saxon pillars; but each different. The town was a borough by prescription, but incorporated by Queen Elizabeth, and afterwards by Charles II. 'The government of the town at present is vested in a mayor and eigjt barons (each gaining the title, of baron by serving the office of mayor), who claims, as before-mentioned, the same privileges as the Barons of the Cinque Ports. The mayor, as is also his predecessor, is a justice of peace, and can hold sessions, chuse coroners for life, counsellors, ale-tasters, &c. which were privileges granted to them by King Charles I. as a reward for the very noble defence the castle made for him.

This borough never sent members to Parliament before the 14th of Queen Elizabeth, who granted it this privilege by charter.

The right of election is possessed by all persons within the borough, who are seised in fee, in possession or reversion of any messuage or tenement, or corporal hereditament, and in such as are tenants for life or lives, and in want of such freeholder in tenants for years determinable on any life or lives paying scot and lot. The number of voters is between 40 and 50.

Corfe Castle Stands a little north of the town, opposite to the Church, on a very steep rocky hill, mingled with hard rubble chalk stone, in the opening of those ranges of bilk that inclose the east part of the Isle. Its situation between the end of those hills deprive it much of its natural and artificial strength, being so commanded by them, that they overlook the tops of the highest towers, yet its structure is so strong, the ascent of the hill on all sides, but the south so steep, and the walls so massy and thick, that it must have been one of the most impregnable fortresses in the kingdom before the invention of artillery. It was of great importance in respect to its command over the whole isle; whence our Saxon ancestors justly styled it Corfe Gate, as being the pass and avenue into the best part of the isle.

The remains of this once beautiful fabric extend about half a mile in circuit, of an oval form, wie walls twelve feet thick. The outer gate is large with a round tower on each side. The first ward has towers. Passing a second bridge of one arch, you enter the second ward, which probably was the spot where the cruel murder of King Edward was committed. Great part of the walls of this ward is in ruins, 23 feet of it having sunk near half its height into the ditch, but yet remains perpendicular : in this ward are the ruins of five towers. The third and principal ward was on the highest part of the hill, where stood several buildings now in ruins, built on vaults, for storerooms, &c. where was erected a platform in 1586 for five pieces of cannon. The fourth ward had in it a small garden. It is said that in this part stood the house of Elfrida, the widow of King Edgar, who during her residence here occasioned the murder of her son-in law Edward. The particulars of this event Mr. Hutchins relates in the following words: "The first mention of this castle in our histories is A. D. 978, as the. Saxon annals, (though some of our historians say 979 and 981) upon occasion of the barbarous murder of Edward, King of the West Saxons, son of King Edgar, committed here by his mother-in-law, Elfrith, or Elfrida; 15 Cal. April, in the middle of Lent. The foulest deed, says the Saxon annalist, ever committed by the Saxons since they landed in Britain. This transaction, and the motives to it, are so fully recorded by all our historians, that I shall content myself with mentioning a few incidents from Brompton."This unfortunate Prince hunting in a large wood near Wareham, when the chase was ended, towards evening, recollecting that his brother resided hard by, resolved to make him a visit. Near this wood was Elfrida's house, were his mother was brought up, in a place called corph, (Br. a body,) three miles from Wareham, where now a famous castle is built. He had lost his attendants; which Elfrida having notice of, thought it a favourable opportunity to execute her wicked purpose; and went to meet him with her wicked retinue, and in a most affable and friendly manner invited him to alight, which he declined, but expressed a wish to see his brother. She then called for wine, which he had scarce put to his lips, when one of her attendants, who had given the King the kiss of peace, stabbed him in the back, or as others say in the belly. Knighton and Huntington say, Elfrida herself gave him both the kiss and the mortal wound, whilst he was drinking. Finding himself wounded, he rode away : but, fainting with loss of blood, his foot entangled in the stirrup, and he was dragged a considerable way, till the horse stopped of his own accord. The servants sent by Elfrida to know the issue of her treachery, found the unhappy Prince dead, terribly defaced with the flints over which he had been dragged. The Queen, to conceal the fact, ordered his body to be Jodged in a house near, where it was covered with such mean clothes as were at hand. In this house lived a woman who had been born blind, and maintained by the Queen's alms. At midnight she found her sight restored, and, to her great terror, the house filled with light. On this spot a church was afterwards built. In the morning the Queen being informed of these circumstances, fearing a discovery, ordered her attendants to convey the corpse secretly into a private and marshy place, where it could not easily be found. Others say" she caused it to be thrown into a well. She then, to prevent suspicion, retired to a mansion of heres called Bere, ten miles distant. Her own son Ethelred expressing his grief for his mother's wickedness, she beat him so severely with wax tapers, for want of something else, that the hated them ever after. Others say she had beaten Edward with them in Ethelred's presence."The year following the body was found by the devout search of some faithful persons, by warning from heaven : a pillar of fire, descending from above illuminated the place where it was hid. Some devout people of Wareham brought it to that rill, to the church of St. Mary's, and buried it in a plain manner on the east side; where a wooden church, afterwards built by religious persons, was to be seen in this author's time. The fountain where the body had lain yielded pure and sweet water, and v/as called St. Edward's Fountain; at which infirm people were daily healed. The news of these transactions being circulated, Alfer, Earl of Mercia, a faithful adherent to the "deceased King, hearing the body was found, resolved to move it to a more suitable place; and inviting the bishops, abbots, and nobility to assist him, sent to Wolfrida, abbess of Wilton, to come with her nuns to perform the exequies. In that house was a sister of King Edward, daughter of King Edgar and Wolfrida, before she became a nun. The company being joined by a great multitude of the country people, came to Wareham; where the body on being taken out of the tomb in which it had lain three years, was found as free from corruption as on the day it was placed in it. Thence it was, the same year, carried on a bier to Shaftesbury. Among the concourse of people were two poor lame persons, who were cured on approaching the bier. Elfrida, struck with remorse, prepared to follow the procession on hone-back, and ask pardon for her crime; but her utmost effort could not prevent the horse from running backwards. She attempted to go on foot, with no better success; Knyghton says she tried several horses, but not being able to make them go on, or get forward herself, she committed the charge of the business to Alfer. The royal corpse was received at Shaston by the abbess, and entombed on the north side of the principal altar, 12th cal. March. Elfrida's ambition to raise her own son to the throne, urged her to commit this execrable murder; and, in order to expiate it and others, she had recourse to the general remedy of that age for an uneasy conscience, founding and endowing two nunneries, at Ambresbury, in Wiltshire, and Whorweil in Hampshire; in which last she took the habit, and spent the remaining part of her life in great austerity and superstitious dread, and was buried there. The manner of this Price's death, and the affection of the monks, whom he much favoured, gained him the surname of Martyr." In the year 1327, the unfortunate Edward II. after he had surrendered his crown, was a short time confined in this castle, being removed hither by order of the Queen and Mortimer, from Kenehvorth Castle. He was taken from the latter place first to Bristol, and afterwards to Berkeley Castle, suffering all the way every hardship and indignity the brutal tempers of his two keepers, Sir John Maltravers and Sir Thomas Gurney, could suggest, in hopes this fatigue and ill-treatment would shorten his days; but this not succeeding, they conducted him to Corfe Castle, where he was put to death in a very cruel and unheard-of manner, by thrusting a horn pipe up his body, through which a red-hot piece of iron was then conveyed. They pursued this diabolical method, to prevent any marks of violence being seen on his corpse.

The above are not the only circumstances of cruelty attached to the history of this Castle. Dr. Maton, who visited it, observes: "We could not view without horror, the dungeons which remain in some of the towers : they recalled to our memory the truly diabolical cruelty of King John, by whose order 22 prisoners confined in them were starved to death. Mathew of Paris, the historian, says, that many of these unfortunate men were among the first of the nobility of Poictu. Another instance of John's barbarous disposition was his treatment of Peter of Pontefract, a poor hermit, who was imprisoned in Corfe Castle for prophecying the deposition of that Prince. Though the prophecy was in some measure fulfilled, by the surrender which John made of his crown to the Pope's legate, the year following, yet the imprudent prophet was sentenced to be dragged through the streets of Wareham, tied to horses' tails." In the time of Charles I. the lady of Sir John Banks became illustrious, from the gallant manner in which she defended this Castle from the attacks of the Parliament forces. The particulars of this defence are amply detailed in Hutchins's Dorset.

In the year 1645 and 1646, the Castle was again besieged by the parliament forces, and taken by them, through the treachery of Lt. Col. Pitman, an officer of the ganison. After obtaining possession of the Castle, the Parliament ordered it to be demolished, which was accordingly completely done. Thus this ancient and magnificent fabric was reduced to a heap of ruins, and remains a lasting monument of the dreadful effects of anarchy, and the rage of civil war. The ruins are large, and allowed to be the noblest and grandest in the kingdom, considering the extent of ground on which they stand. The vast fragments of the King's Tower, the round towers leaning as if ready to fall, the broken walls,. and vast pieces of them tumbled down into the vale below, form such a scene of havoc and devastation, as strikes every curious spectator with horror and concern.

In the parish of Corfe is Encombr, the property of Lord Kidon, the present Lord Chancellor. It is situated in a very deep vale, that opens to the British Channel on the south,and is about a mile and a half from Kingston. It is one of the best farms in the island, consisting of arable and pasture for sheep. The hilly part, as well as the vale, yields a greater plenty of grass, and more beautiful verdure, than is usually seen in this island, and from its fertility has been distinguished by the name of the Golden Bowl. It was anciently a manor and hamlet, and is supposed to belong to Shaston Abbey from its foundation. It was, however, for some ages, the property of the family of the Cullisfords, who had here their mansion-house. In 1734 it experienced one of those revolutions to which property is so much subject, being obliged to be alienated for the payment of debts It was purchased by George Pitt, Esq. of Stratfield Sea, in the county of Southampton, who gave it to his second son, John Pitt, Esq. The ancient seat of the Cullisfords being much decayed, was entirely pulled down in 1734, and an adjacent house erected on the site of it. It is built with Purbeck-stone, surrounded with fine plantations of trees, extensive pieces of water, and a noble view of the British Channel.

About two miles from hence is St. Adhetm's Head, a noted sea-mark, being the highest part of the Purbeck coast. It rises nearly 440 feet perpendicularly. Upon the summit are the ruins of a small chapel. It was on this part of the coast that the Halsewell East Indiaman, Captain Pierce, was lost on the morning of the 6th of January, 1786.

CORFE CASTLE is a parish and village, with a station on the Swanage branch of the London and South Western railway, 5 miles south-east from Wareham, 21 south-east from Dorchester and 130 from London, in the Eastern, division of the county, Corfe Castle hundred, Wareham petty sessional division and county court district, Wareham and Purbeck union, rural deanery of Dorchester (Purbeck portion), archdeaconry of Dorset and diocese of Salisbury: it is situated nearly in the centre of the Isle or Peninsula of Purbeck, and derives its name and origin from the ancient castle: its first charter, granted by Queen Elizabeth, conferred on the inhabitants equal privileges with the Cinque Ports. The church of St. Edward the Martyr, a building of stone with green slate roof, was rebuilt, with the exception of the tower, in 1859-1860, from designs by Wyatt, in the Perpendicular style, and consists of chancel and chancel aisles, nave and aisles, north porch and an ancient embattled west tower with pinnacles, with an interesting doorway and clock and a peal of 6 bells: the chancel, which is Early English, is built of the Purbeck stone and Purbeck marble, which is effectively introduced in the columns of the chancel (copied from those of the former edifice) and other parts of the interior: the chancel is enriched by a stained east window, in memory of Lady Charlotte Bankes; a fine reredos has been added by the Earl of Eldon, designed by the late G. E. Street R. A. : there are eight other memorial windows: the stained window in the south aisle was erected by the rector in memory of his youngest son and the other two to his eldest daughter; that at the west end is to Captain Sir George Biddlecombe, who left money for the purpose: there is an organ, and a very beautiful ancient font of Purbeck marble: the church has 600 sittings. The register dates from the year 1653. The living is a rectory, gross yearly value £450, with 70 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of W. R. Bankes esq. and held since 1854 by the Rev. Eldon Surtees Bankes M.A. of University College, Oxford, canon and prebendary of Salisbury, rural dean of Purbeck portion and surrogate. Here are Congregational and Wesleyan chapels. The charities are £80 yearly, arising from rents of lands left by Robt. Abbot and others, and are spent in allowing the sum of £2 15s. a year each to 12 aged persons and in buying clothing for the poor. The trade of Corfe Castle for many centuries has consisted chiefly in stone and grey marble, generally known by the name of Purbeck marble, which abounds not only in the vicinity of this place, but throughout the Isle of Purbeck; and the fact of its being found in the interior of almost every old cathedral and church in the kingdom, as well as in many foreign churches, shows that the trade in this article must formerly have been very considerable. After the introduction of foreign marble, the trade in Purbeck marble declined, and it fell into disuse until the restoration of the Temple Church, London (1842), where it was re-introduced in forming the pillars: the font of the church of Harrow-on-the-Hill, 700 years old, is formed of this material; the nave of St. Alban’s Abbey and the cathedrals of Salisbury, Winchester, Canterbury and Gloucester contain specimens of this marble. A number of the inhabitants are now employed digging potters’ clay, from which Minton’s best china is made, large quantities of which are exported to all parts both of this and foreign countries, and no other district produces clay of such good quality. Fairs are held on the 12th May and 29th October. The market is discontinued. The Bankes’ Arms hotel has been enlarged and refitted and affords very good accommodation for visitors.

The Castle stands on a lofty eminence commanding the Corfe, or gap, which here occurs in the Purbeck range, and the walls follow the crest of the chalk hills, which descends almost vertically on the east, west and north sides. The northern, or highest point, is occupied by the noble ruins of the Keep and principal buildings; the great gateway stands at the southern, or lowest angle; the Butavant tower, the western; and the Queen’s hall, or tower, near the eastern angle; the whole inclosing an area of about 3 ¼ acres, which is divided into three wards-the outer (by far the largest), the middle, and the inner ward: a bridge of four arches, crossing a deep dry moat, connects the castle with the town. A full and admirable detailed account, by the late Mr. T. Bond, of the history of the castle is in the last edition of “Hutchins’ History of Dorset,” and has been more recently revised and issued as a distinct volume. The earliest historical event recorded of Corfe is in connection with the murder of King Edward the Marytr, A. D. 978. Elfrida’s “house” stood here, and in March of that year, by her hand, or by her instigation, King Edward was assassinated on his horse at the door of her hospice; his foot being entangled in the stirrup, he was dragged away by the affrighted animal till it reached the brook on the Wareham side of the mound, where the body of the unfortunate prince was found and taken to Wareham, whence it was afterwards removed with great pomp to Shaftesbury. William the Conqueror next appears connected with the fortress, as having caused the Keep or great tower to be built, and the castle was used chiefly as a prison. Stephen, in his wars with Matilda, found the castle impregnable. John made it a royal residence and considered it the safest depository of his treasure and regalia; here, also, he confined the Princess Eleanor, sister of his victim Arthur, in company with the two daughters of the King of Scotland. From Corfe Castle, Edward II. was taken to Berkeley by his murderers, Sir John Matravers, of Langton Matravers, and Sir John Gurney. Elizabeth sold the domain to her favourite, Sir Christopher Hatton, who, in 1587, was made Lord High Chancellor: in 1635 it passed by purchase into the possession of the then Attorney-General, Sir John Bankes, afterwards Lord Chief Justice, who bought it about 1635 from Lady Elizabeth (Cecil), widow of Sir Edward Coke, the ancestor of the family of Bankes, of Kingston Lacey, where the key of the castle is still preserved; in 1643 it was taken by treachery, by the Parliamentary forces, and months were occupied in reducing it to its present state by gunpowder. The Manor house was formerly the residence of the Dacombe family: it is Early Elizabethan, and built in the form of the letter E, and has an interesting courtyard: one of the rooms contains some unique oak panelling and very quaint carving: the house is now occupied by William Augustus Rixon esq. and Lady Bolton. Two and a half miles to the north-east of Corfe Castle is Rempstone Hall, the seat of William Montagu Calcraft esq. J.P. The principal landowners are W. Ralph Bankes esq. of Kingston Lacey, who is lord of the manor, Wm. Montagu Calcraft esq. Nathaniel Bond esq. of Creech Grange and the Earl of Eldon. The soil is various; subsoil, chalk. The chief crops are wheat, barley and oats, with, a large area of pasture land. The area is 8,809 acres of land and 1,075 water; rateable value, £7,042; the population in 1891 was, including Kingston, 1,708.

National School (mixed & infants), with residence for master & mistress, built in 1832, for 250 children; average attendance, 98 boys & girls & 88 infants.