The annexed Engravings are an interesting page in the early history of our
country, and deserve all the space we have appropriated to them. Their
political notoriety, of much less interesting character, we leave to be
set down, said, sung, or set aside, elsewhere.
Corfe Castle nearly adjoins a town of the same name: both are situate in
the Isle of Purbeck; and their histories are so incorporated, that we
shall not attempt their separation.
The town, according to the _Beauties of England and Wales_, vol. iv.
p. 386, is nearly in the centre of the Isle, at the foot of a range of
hills, on a rising ground, declining to the east. Its origin must
undoubtedly be attributed to the Castle, which existed previous to the
year 980; though the town itself does not appear to have attained any
importance till after the Conquest, as it was wholly unnoticed in the
Domesday Book. The Manor and Castle seem always to have descended
together, and were often granted to princes of the blood, and the
favourites of our kings, yet as often reverted to the Crown by attainder
or forfeiture. In the reign of Richard the Second, they were held by
Thomas Holland, Earl of Kent, jointly with Alicia, his wife. In the reign
of Henry the Fourth, they were granted to the _Beauforts_, Earls of
Somerset; but were taken from that family by Edward the Fourth, who
bestowed them successively on Richard, Duke of York, and George, Duke of
Clarence; on the attainder of the latter, they reverted to the Crown.
Henry the Seventh granted them to his mother, the Countess of Richmond,
for life. In the 27th of his successor, Henry the Eighth, an act of
parliament was passed, by which they were given to Henry, Duke of
Richmond, his natural son. After his death they reverted to the Crown, and
were, by Edward the Sixth, bestowed on the Duke of Somerset; whose zeal
for the Reformation was undoubtedly invigorated by the numerous grants of
abbey lands made to him after the suppression of the monasteries. On the
duke's attainder, the demesne lands of the Castle were leased for
twenty-one years, on a fee-farm rent of 7l. 13s. 4d. In the 14th of
Elizabeth, the Castle and Manor, with the whole Isle of Purbeck, were
granted to Sir Christopher Hatton, whose heirs continued possessors till
the commencement of the 17th century, when the Manor and Castle were given
by Sir William Hatton to his lady, Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas, Earl of
Exeter, and afterwards second wife to Lord Chief Justice Coke, who sold
them, in the year 1635, to Sir John Bankes, Attorney-General to Charles
the First, and afterwards Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. His
descendant, Henry Bankes, Esq. and representative for this borough, is the
present owner.
Though this is an ancient borough by prescription, it was not incorporated
till the 18th of Queen Elizabeth, when a charter was obtained by Sir
Christopher Hatton, by which the inhabitants were invested with the same
liberties as those of the Cinque Ports; besides being favoured with
various other privileges. This charter was afterwards confirmed by James
the First and Charles the Second. The government of the town is vested in
a mayor and eight barons--the barons are those who have borne the office
of mayor. The first return to, parliament was made in the 14th of
Elizabeth. The right of election is possessed by all persons within the
borough who are "seized 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 freehold, in tenants for
years, determinable on any life, or lives, paying scot and lot."[1] The
number of voters is between forty and fifty.
[1] Hutchins's Dorset, vol. i, p. 279, 2nd edit.
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 hills that inclose the east part of the Isle.
Its situation between the ends of those hills deprives 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 Corf Gate, as being the pass and
avenue into the best part of the Isle."
The Castle is separated from the town by a strong bridge of four very
high, narrow, semi-circular arches, crossing a moat of considerable depth,
but now dry. This bridge leads to the gate of the first ward, which
remains pretty entire, probably from the thickness of the walls, which,
from the outward to the inner facing, is full nine yards. The ruins of the
entrance to the second ward, and of the tower near it, are very
remarkable. "The latter (which once adjoined to the gate) was separated
with a part of the arch at the time of the demolition of the Castle, and
is moved down the precipice, preserving its perpendicularity, and
projecting almost five feet below the corresponding part. Another of the
towers on the same side is, on the contrary, inclined so much, that a
spectator will tremble when passing under it. The singular position of
these towers seems to have been occasioned through the foundations being
undermined (for blowing them up) in an incomplete manner. On the higher
part of the hill stands the keep, or citadel, which is at some distance
from the centre of the fortress, and commands a view of boundless extent,
to the north and west. It has not hitherto suffered much diminution from
its original height; the fury of the winds being resisted less by the
thickness of the walls than by the strength of the cement. The upper
windows have Saxon arches, but are apparently of a later date than any
other part of the building west of the keep, the stones of which being
placed _herring-bone fashion_ prove it to be of the earliest style.
The Chapel is of a very late date, as appears from its obtuse Gothic
arches; and I have really an idea that almost all the changes of
architecture, from the reign of Edgar to that of Henry the Seventh, may be
traced in this extensive and stupendous ruin.
"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 twenty-two prisoners, confined in them were starved
to death. Matthew of Paris, the historian, says, that many of those
unfortunate men were among the first of the Poitevin nobility. Another
instance of John's barbarous disposition was his treatment of Peter of
Pontefract, a poor hermit, who was imprisoned in Corfe Castle for
prophesying 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."[2]
[2] Maton's Observations, vol. i. p. 12.
The exact period when this fortress was erected is unknown; though some
circumstances render it probable that it was built by King Edgar. That it
did not exist previously to the year 887, or 888, the time when the
Nunnery at Shaftesbury was founded, is certain, from an inquisition taken
in the fifty-fourth of Henry the Third; wherein the jurors returned, "that
the Abbess and Nuns at Shaston (Shaftesbury) had without molestation,
_before the foundation of the Castle at Corfe_, all wrecks within
their manor of Kingston, in the Isle of Purbeck." Mr. Aubrey, in his
_Monumenta Britannica_, observes, he was informed, "that mention was
made of Corfe Castle in the reign of King Alfred; yet it seems very
improbable that this should be the fact; for if it had actually existed in
the time of that monarch, it would surely have been more publicly known.
The short reigns that succeeded would not allow time for so extensive an
undertaking; but Edgar enjoyed more peace than almost any of his
predecessors, was superior in wealth and power, and a great builder; he
having founded, or repaired, no fewer than forty-seven monasteries." To
him, then, the origin of this castle may with the greatest probability be
ascribed, as his second wife, Elfrida, resided here at the commencement of
her widowhood. During this residence was committed the foul murder on King
Edward, Edgar's son and successor, of which William of Malmesbury relates
the ensuing particulars.
"King Edward being hunting in a forest neare the sea, upon the south-east
coast of the countie of Dorset, and in the Isle of Purbecke, came neare
unto a fair and stronge castell, seated on a little river called Corfe,
wherein his mother-in-law, Elfrida, with her sonne Ethelred, then lived:
the King, ever beareing a kinde affection to them, beeing soe neare, would
needs make knowne soe much by his personall visitation; which haveing
resolved, and beeing either of purpose or by chance, singled from his
followers, hee rode to the Castell gate. The Queene, who long had looked
for an opportunitie, that, by makeing him awaye, shee might make waye for
her own sonne to the Crowne, was glad the occasion nowe offered itselfe;
and therefore, with a modest and humble behaviour, she bade him welcome,
desireing to enjoye his presence that night. But hee, haveing performed
what hee purposed, and doubting his companie might find him misseing,
tolde her, that he now intended on horseback to drink to her and his
brother in a cuppe of wine, and soe leave her; which beeing presented unto
him, the cuppe was no sooner at his mouth, but a knife was at his back,
which a servant, appointed by this treacherous woman, stroke into him. The
Kinge, finding himselfe hurt, sett spurs to his horse, thinking to recover
his companie; but the wounde beeing deepe, and fainting through the losse
of much blood, he felle from his horse, which dragged him by one foot
hanging in the stirrop, untill he was left dead at Corfe gate, Anno Dom.
979."
Thus far Malmesbury: Hutchins, in his History of Dorset, relates the
circumstances of this event 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."
In the reign of King Stephen, the Castle was seized by Baldwin de Rivers,
Earl of Devon; and though the King afterwards endeavoured to dispossess
him, his efforts were ineffectual. King John appears to have made it for
some time his place of residence, as several writs, issued by him in the
fifteenth and sixteenth of his reign, are dated at Corfe. On the
coronation of Henry the Third, Peter de Mauley, the governor of the
Castle, was summoned to attend the ceremony, and to bring with him the
regalia, "then in his custody in this Castle wherewith he had been
entrusted by John." The following year he delivered up the Castle to the
King, with all the military engines, ammunition, and jewels, committed to
his charge.--Edward the Second was removed hither from Kenelworth Castle,
when a prisoner, by order of the Queen, and her favourite Mortimer. Henry
the Seventh repaired the Castle for the residence of his mother, the
Countess of Richmond, the parliament having granted 2,000l. for that
purpose; yet it does not appear that it was ever inhabited by this
princess. It was again repaired by Sir Christopher Hatton, and most
probably by Sir John Bankes, whose lady became illustrious from the
gallant manner in which she defended it from the attacks of the
parliament's forces, in the time of Charles the First.
In the year 1645 and 1646, the Castle was again besieged, or rather
blockaded, by the parliament's forces, who obtained possession through the
treachery of Lieutenant-Colonel Pitman, an officer of the garrison. When
it was delivered up, the parliament ordered it to be demolished; and the
walls and towers were undermined, and thrown down, or blown up with
gunpowder. "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 the
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 desolation, as strikes every curious spectator with horror and
concern."[3]
[3] Hutchins's Dorset, vol. i. p. 286, 2nd edit.
The tragical murder of Edward by Elfrida, at Corfe Castle, and its
memorable defence by Lady Bankes, form two very interesting narratives in
Hutchins's Dorset. Their details would occupy too much of our present
sheet, although they are worth reprinting for the gratification of the
general reader.
Corfe Castle, as we have already intimated, is proposed to be
disfranchised by the Great Reform Bill now before Parliament.
A year or two hence, probably, the political consequence of the place will
be humbled as the Castle itself!
* * * * *