Corfe Castle

http://castlexplorer.co.uk/


A late 11th century Norman castle with a circular keep built on a hill on an earlier Saxon site. It was extended in 1210 when the west and outer bailey wallls and towers and the palace, the Gloriette, were added. In the middle of the 13th century the middle and outer gatehouses were built. The castle was sold into private hands in the 16th century, but it was used during the Civil War against Parliamentary troops. After a long siege in 1646 it was severely slighted after surrendering.


A gloriette (from the 12th century French gloire meaning "little room") is a building in a garden erected on a site that is elevated with respect to the surroundings. The structural execution and shape can vary greatly, often in the form of a pavilion or tempietto, more or less open on the sides.