Monument record MDO7400 - The Rings, Corfe Castle

The remains of medieval ring and bailey earthworks are situated 430m south-west of Corfe Castle. It is considered likely to be a siege castle built by King Stephen in 1139 when he unsuccessfully besieged the castle at Corfe. A Civil War battery is also thought to have been positioned here during the 17th Century, suggested by it being recorded as 'Cromwell's Battery' on the 1844 Tithe Map. Earthwork remains of this fortification are visible on aerial photographs.

(SY 959823) Corfe Castle (NR) (Remains of) (1)

Corfe Castle, of strategic and military importance was built on a large natural mound overlooking the gap in the Purbeck Hills. ()

The foundations of a possible pre-Conquest building were revealed during excavations in the west bailey, 1950-52, and possibly represent either a 'hospitium' belonging to Shaftesbury Abbey or a royal residence associated with King Edward, who was murdered at 'Corfegeat' in 978 AD. (3). The earliest visible features of the castle, however, comprise late 11th century fragments of a hall in the west bailey and the wall surrounding the inner ward. The ashlar-built keep is dated to circa 1105 AD and the 'Gloriette' is an early 13th century courtyard mansion with 15th century addition, which was built to supplement or replace accomodation in the keep.

The enciente (outer bailey) retains a defensive system of walls and mural towers mainly of the early and late 13th century. During the Civil War the castle was besieged and slighted. Grade 1. Plan (2).

(For full descriptive account of the castle remains and earthworks see RCHM). 2()

A brief account of the castle (4) and concise architectural report (5).

Corfe Castle. Ruins of former royal castle, built on a natural hilltop in a gap in the main Purbeck range. Late C11 origin - possibly on an earlier pre-Conquest site, altered and enlarged in C12, C13 and C14. The Keep refurbished as a house in mid-C16 and the whole structure slighted and largely demolished after the Civil War. The fortified enclosure roughly triangular in plan. The curtain walls survive in part, with the bases of semi-circular towers. Surviving walls part ashlar, part rough ashlar, part rubble. Outer Gatehouse, at south end, approached by a 4-arch stone bridge over the now dry moat. Gatehouse consists of a segmental archway flanked by bases of 2 circular towers, linked to curtain wall. Inner, south-west Gatehouse, south of the surviving structures, consists of 2 circular towers flanking a pointed segmental archway. On the left, this has dropped several feet following undermining after the Civil Wr. At north-west of the site, the remains of the Old Hall, late C11. Lower walls of this survive, with some herringbone masonry and part blocked round arched openings. At west end, remains of the Butavant Tower, early C13. Near the centre, the Keep, C12, square on plan, originally 3-storeyed - an extra storey inserted in C13. Altered in mid-C16 by Sir Christopher Hatton, - remains of Tudor windows and fireplaces survive. North of the Keep, large blocks of fallen masonry. West of the Keep, the Gloriette, a C13 first-floor hall house, with Hall and Solar over an originally vaulted undercroft. Several lancet windows survive, with deep roll mouldings. In spite of much destruction, still an impressive structure, dominating the village. A National Trust property. - Grade I (6,7)

Listed by Cathcart King. (8)

Additional reference. (9)


Corfe was a major royal castle, not necessarily for its strategic value, but more for its convenience as a stronghold for the safe custody of political prisoners, important hostages and royal treasure. Detailed account of the history of the castle as a royal stronghold. (10)

There is a bastion-like structure salient from the south front of the shell wall. (11)


The remains of medieval ring and bailey earthworks are situated 430m south-west of Corfe Castle. Their position commanding the town, the castle and the main approach route supports the view that it is the remains of a siege castle built by King Stephen in 1139 when he unsuccessfully besieged the castle at Corfe. A Civil War battery is also thought to have been positioned here during the 17th Century, suggested by it being recorded as 'Cromwell's Battery' on the 1844 Tithe Map (1-2).

The Rings (SY 956820) earthwork remains of a 'ring-and-bailey' castle, lie some 320 yards SSW of the nearest point of Corfe castle. Their position commanding the town, the castle and a main approach route supports the view that they are remains of a siege castle thrown up by King Stephen in 1139 when he unsuccessfully besieged Corfe. They stand apart from the town and were apparently never integral with it. Traditionally a battery was sited here in the 17th century Civil War (Dorset Procs. XLVIII (1927),xlix), and the Tithe Map (1844) calls the 'Rings' 'Cromwell's Battery'. A rampart-walk inside the bank could belong to this phase (cf. the ramps, though different in form, inside Maumbury Rings.

The earthwork is set at the E end of a low chalk ridge running parallel to the much higher West Hill to the N and sloping S; the ground falls away from it on all sides but the NW., giving an excellent field of view, particularly from the 'ring'. This last, alternative to a motte, consists of a massive rampart still up to 13ft. high above the bottom of the surrounding ditch with a platform just inside it; the platform, up to 10ft wide and about 2 1/2ft below the crest, is best preserved on the SW and gives the impression of a rampart-walk (section A-B below). The rest of the interior, about 40 yards across and 1/4 acre in area, slopes gently SE. Two gaps occur in the rampart: that to the E. is modern, while the other, to the S., which is very narrow and cuts the bank diagonally, seems unlikely to be original. The bank and ditch of the bailey (see section C-D) seem to have been of similar proportions to those of the 'ring', but the interior, of about 1/2 acre, slopes more steeply and to the S as if deliberately tilted away from Corfe castle.

The 'ring' is covered with bent grass, bramble and bracken; the present road runs virtually in the ditch on the NW and has encroached on the rampart which, with the rampart-walk, has been eroded on the N.E. The bailey has long been ploughed as part of the surrounding field after destruction of the rampart on the W. Plan. <3>

Listed by Cathcart King. <4>

Earthwork remains of this fortification are visible on aerial photographs <7-10>. They consist of a ringed rampart, approximately 13-20m wide and 65m in diameter, surrounded by an outer ditch. Ditched ramparts also enclose the outer area of the southern side of this ring, extending approximately 66m in length and 78m wide. These features were digitally plotted during the Wild Purbeck Mapping Project.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1963 (Map). SWX1540.

(Centred SY 956819) The Rings (NAT) Castle (NR) (Site of)

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume II (South East) Part 1, 57-78, 96-98 (Monograph). SDO148.

'(176) The 'RINGS' (956820; Plate 91), earthwork remains of a 'ring-and-bailey' castle, lie some 320 yds. S.S.W. of the nearest point, the Butavant Tower, of Corfe castle (Monument 10). Their position commanding the town, the castle and a main approach route supports the view that they are remains of a siege castle thrown up by King Stephen in 1139 when he unsuccessfully besieged Corfe. (fn. 53) They stand apart from the town and were apparently never integral with it. Traditionally a battery was sited here in the 17th-century Civil War (Dorset Procs. XLVIII (1927), xlix), and the Tithe Map (1844) calls the 'Rings' 'Cromwell's Battery'. A rampart walk inside the bank could belong to this phase (cf. the

53E. S. Armitage, Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (1909), 138. Cf. the smaller 'Danes' Castle' ringwork at Exeter, destroyed in 1834 and apparently built by Stephen in 1136 when besieging in Rougemont Castle the same Baldwin de Redvers whom he later besieged at Corfe. See W. T. P. Shortt, Collectanea Curiosa antique Dunmonia (sic.) (c. 1840), Plate 1, opp. 21; Prof. W. G. Hoskins drew attention to this comparison and appraised the documentary evidence. For an inventory of temporary castles see D. F. Renn, Antiquity XXXIII (1959), 110. See also The History of the King's Works, ed. H. M. Colvin (1963), 1, 42.

The earthwork is set at the E. end of a low chalk ridge running parallel to the much higher West Hill to the N. and sloping S.; the ground falls away from it on all sides but the N.W., giving an excellent field of view, particularly from the 'ring'. This last, alternative to a motte, consists of a massive rampart still up to 13 ft. high above the bottom of the surrounding ditch with a platform just inside it; the platform, up to 10 ft. wide and about 2½ ft. below the crest, is best preserved on the S.W. and gives the impression of a rampartwalk (section A-B below). The rest of the interior, about 40 yds. across and ¼ acre in area, slopes gently S.E. Two gaps occur in the rampart: that to the E. is modern, while the other, to the S., which is very narrow and cuts the bank diagonally, seems unlikely to be original. The bank and ditch of the bailey (see section C-D) seem to have been of similar proportions to those of the 'ring', but the interior, of about ½ acre, slopes more steeply and to the S. as if deliberately tilted away from Corfe castle.
The 'ring' is covered with bent grass, bramble and bracken; the present road runs virtually in the ditch on the N.W. and has encroached on the rampart which, with the rampartwalk, has been eroded on the N.E. The bailey has long been ploughed as part of the surrounding field, after destruction of the rampart on the W. (R.A.F. V.A.P. CPE/UK 1821: 2407–8.)'

<3A> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1966, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1965, 111 (Serial). SDO65.

‘Inspecting the ring-motte and bailey siege-work of 1139 below the Castle on the Church Knowle road, Mr. P. A. Brown has noticed blocks of Purbeck stone exposed by rooting pigs in a small area on the top of the rampart where it adjoins the road (SY 95608204).’

<3> Penn, K J, 1980, Historic Towns in Dorset, 44-45 (Monograph). SWX1202.

<4> Cathcart-King, D J, 1983, Castellarium anglicanum: an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands (Monograph). SDO16340.

<4> Royal Archaeological Institute, 1983, The Archaeological Journal 140, 54-58 (Serial). SDO18223.

<5> Tatler, S and Bellamy, P, 2006, New BT Duct, The Rings, Corfe Castle, Dorset. Archaeological Observations and Recording, September 2006 (Unpublished document). SDO15154.

<6> Department of the Environment, 1986, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Purbeck, 461-473 (Scheduling record). SDO20185.

<6> Wright, D, Fradley, M, and Creighton, O, 2015, The Rings, Corfe Castle, Dorset. Geophysical and Topographical Survey Report. (Unpublished document). SDO14667.

<7> Royal Air Force, 18-FEB-1970, RAF 58/0254 0022 (Aerial Photograph). SDO13661.

<7> Newman, J, and Pevsner, N, 1972, The Buildings of England: Dorset, 161-166 (Monograph). SWX1290.

<8> Cathcart-King, D J, 1983, Castellarium anglicanum: an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands, 126-127 (Monograph). SDO16340.

<8> National Monuments Record, 26-APR-1989, SY 9582/24 (NMR 4544/10) (Aerial Photograph). SDO13663.

<9> McNeill, Tom, 1992, English Heritage book of castles, 48,51,53,126 (Bibliographic reference). SDO20497.

<9> Dorset County Council, 2002, VAP (Aerial Photograph). SDO13141.

<10> National Monuments Record, 18-NOV-2005, SY 9581/8 (NMR 24139/29) (Aerial Photograph). SDO13662.

<10> Allen Brown, R, Colvin, H M, and Taylor, A J, 1963, The history of the King's Works, Volume 2: the Middle Ages, 616-624 (Monograph). SDO18003.

<11> Royal Commission on Historic Monuments, Externally held archive: RCH01/093 RCHME Inventory: Dorset II (South-East) (Unpublished document). SDO17434.

<11A> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1952, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1951, 76 (Serial). SDO51.

<11> Fortress Study Group, 1987, Fort: the international journal of fortification and military architecture, 55 (Serial). SDO20084.

<12> Historic England, Historic England Archive, AO52/46/4 (Index). SDO14738.

WEAK SOUTHERN EARTHWORK FROM SOUTH-EAST. PROBABLY THE SIEGE CASTLE OF 1139 WHEN KING STEPHEN UNSUCCESSFULLY BESEIGED CORFE ALSO THE SITE OF A CIVIL WAR BATTERY

<13> Historic England, Historic England Archive, AO52/46/5 (Index). SDO14738.

THE EASTERN BANK OF THE NORTHERN SECTION TAKEN FROM THE INTERIOR BASIN. CORFE CASTLE IN BACKGROUND PROBABLY THE SIEGEWORK OF KING STEPHEN (1139)

<14> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC72/01433 and 01434 (Index). SDO14738.

PLAN OF EARTHWORKS WHICH ARE PROBABLY THE REMAINS OF THE SIEGEWORK OF KING STEPHEN IN 1139

<15> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS52/F46/4 (Index). SDO14738.

THE WEAK SOUTHERN EARTHWORKS OF THE RINGS FROM SOUTH EAST, THE RINGS, CORFE CASTLE. Photographer: UNKNOWN

<16> Historic England, Historic England Archive, OS52/F46/5 (Index). SDO14738.

EASTERN BACK OF THE NORTHERN SECTION, THE RINGS, CORFE CASTLE. Photographer: UNKNOWN

<17> National Record of the Historic Environment, 456823 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Oct 22 2024 4:09PM