DORSET - Part 4 30th June: Corfe Castle Continued - Model Village and St Edward's Parish Church

After we had spent several hours at the castle we spent the afternoon looking round the village.

It was very busy :(

In the square there was a tiny shop called "Ginger Pop" selling Enid Blyton related items and all sorts of other goodies for people who had their childhoods quite some time ago!!

D and E loved The Wishing Chair books

and no visit would be complete without purchasing some ginger beer!!

I have to admit to being a huge Enid Blyton fan - I think I read every book she ever wrote when I was little. Bed-time stories with my own children often revolved round one of the Blyton series! I bought a book in the shop called "Enid Blyton and her Enchantment with Dorset" by Dr Andrew Norman which is very interesting and worth buying if you are a Blyton fan and holidaying in this area.



The Town Hall, formerly a prison, is now a museum with a small display of local history items. The upper floor is still used as Parish Council chambers.

We had a look round the model village which opened in 1966

There is a small but attractive garden to walk around - and games such as croquet and a giant Connect 4 and draughts' board for children.

Entrance to the model village

The castle is shown as it would have been before it was destroyed by Parliament in 1646.

Apparently roofs in the (real) village are made from Purbeck Stone (rather than the thatched rooves which often occur in Dorset villages) which was stolen from the castle after its destruction.

The Rings - this is the remains of earthworks for a "Ring and Bailey" castle which was built by King Stephen in 1139 to siege the main castle and it was used as Cromwell's battery during the Civil War. The real earthworks would have been worth a visit (its not far away) but we just ran out of time. Somewhere to go when we return!!

Lichens again! As you may have gathered I am rather fascinated by them :)

The inevitable "model within a model"!

You can see the "real" Corfe castle ruins in this photo.

There was a nice little woodland garden to wander around

and a viewing screen overlooking a stream.

This little Fairy Garden would be lovely for young children to explore -

although it has a few goblin type characters scattered about!

Finally, while the family had a walk round part of the village I had 15 minutes to quickly look round the Parish church of St Edward, King and Martyr. The original church dates back to the 12th century with a 15th century tower. The church was rebuilt in 1860 using the original stone. It was named after St Edward the Martyr who was murdered in 978 on the orders of his stepmother (as mentioned in yesterday's post). The story records that his body was hidden in a hovel where it was discovered by a blind woman. Her sight was restored when she found his body and the church was built at this location.

During the Civil War (1642-1646) Parliamentary troops stationed themselves within the church using it as sleeping quarters for soldiers and stables for the horses - they caused quite a bit of damage to the fabric of the church and records were burnt.

There are now 6 bells in the belfry. The original No. 5 bell (cast in 1739) was replaced recently and can now be found in the north aisle.

The stained glass is mainly Victorian.

The font dates back to around 1450 and is made of black or reddish Purbeck Marble. The font cover was made by Martin Travers in 1940.

We bought some scones, Dorset strawberry jam and clotted cream from the bakery to make our own cream tea. The scones were the best bought ones I have ever tasted and highly recommended if you ever visit Corfe Castle!