Corfe Castle ‘Home’ audio trail

Corfe Castle in Dorset

This audio trail has been created in partnership with Resonix Creative to tell the story of Corfe Castle as a home throughout the ages. Sprinkled with humour this fast-paced audio experience will journey from the conception of Corfe Castle, through the Norman and Tudor periods to the Civil War and present day. Happy listening.

'Home' has become a far more valued and familiar concept to people around the world over this past year. Through this theme, we invite you to connect with Corfe Castle as the home it once was and still is today.
 

A Norman knight Play Video
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Audio post 1: Corfe Castle, a Norman and Medieval home

In this first audio post explore what 'home' meant to the Normans after Corfe Castle was first built on the order of Henry 1, son of William the Conqueror. Discover how the Normans ran the castle, how the Norman Kings lived and entertained their guests and how they developed the castle throughout the Norman period.

A man in Tudor costume at Corfe Castle Play Video
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Audio post 2: A Tudor home at Corfe Castle

In this second audio post discover how Tudor Queen, Elizabeth 1, gave the castle to Sir Christopher Hatton who set about turning it into a stately home. Find out how Sir Hatton furnished the castle to make it more comfortable and discover what life was like for the castle's servants.

LADY BANKES OF CORFE CASTLE, portrait miniature at Kingston Lacy, Dorset Play Video
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Audio post 3: The Bankes family and those who call Corfe Castle home today

In this final audio post discover how Sir John and Mary Bankes bought the castle from the Hatton family in 1635 as a country retreat. When civil war broke out in 1642, this royalist family came under attack from the Parliamentarians and the castle was finally destroyed in 1646. Despite this the Bankes family name lived on at the castle which is now also home to a family of peregrine falcons and lots of other local wildlife.