Corfe Castle

Corfe Castle, a village in the Isle of Purbeck, in Dorsetshire, 4 miles S.E. of Wareham. The castle is noted as the scene of the murder of Edward the Martyr (979) by his stepmother Elfrida, and the slaughter by King John of twenty knights. In 1643 Lady Bankes held it against a six weeks' siege by 600 Parliamentarians. It was afterwards dismantled, and its ruins now cover 3-1/2 acres.