Corfe Castle is one of the Isle of Purbeck's most picturesque villages, the small village which sits astride the main Swanage road is dominated by the ruins of 12th century castle. Click on the image for a wide-angle picture of the village.

The Bankes Hotel on the right, is a reminder of the well-known Bankes family who owned the castle until they bequeathed it to the National Trust in 1981. While the Greyhound Inn started life as two 17th century cottages before conversion to an inn.

Time for some light refreshment, it might only be very early spring but today it feels like summer.

The tower of the 13th century parish church of St Edward King and Martyr, although the tower was added later in the early 15th century. During the Civil War (1642-1651) the Parliamentarian soldiers used the church to stable their horses and the marble font as a drinking trough.

The smallest Town Hall in England, today the building houses a
display of items of local historical interest.

                                   The Fox Inn is the oldest inn in Corfe Castle

Some of the attractive Purbeck stone cottages that fill the village.

The centre of Corfe Castle mainly comprises of buildings around a square with a village cross.

The village cross with the old water pump its base. The base is original, date unknown, while the cross was erected in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria's 60th year as monarch.

Onward and upward to the castle.