Henry I’s grand tower at Corfe Castle is open to visitors again after 378 years
A viewing platform at Corfe Castle in Dorset now lets visitors see the king’s royal rooms for the first time in nearly 400 years.
The King’s Tower, built in 1107 for Henry I, the son of William the Conqueror, was a luxurious set of rooms with a great view. The tower, which is 23 meters tall, was made of white limestone and located at the top of a steep hill at Corfe Castle. It had a special door through which Henry could be seen by people below.
The castle, once a royal stronghold, was partly destroyed during the English Civil War in 1646. Although the walls of the King’s Tower are still standing, the upper rooms were badly damaged and have been closed off since then.
For the first time in 378 years, things have changed, thanks to a new temporary viewing platform set up by the National Trust, the current owner of the castle. Visitors can now climb a stairway inside the keep to get a close-up view of the king’s grand rooms and his amazing view.
This project is part of a large three-year conservation effort to protect the castle from the effects of climate change, which has caused damage from plants and weather, according to James Gould, the castle’s operations manager.
In the very dry summer of 2020, we noticed that some of the stones were becoming loose, so we decided to check the whole castle to see how it was doing. The results showed that we need to think a lot more about how to protect it for the future, he said.
Building the new viewing platform, a self-supporting structure inside the south part of the castle, needed approval from Historic England because the site is a Grade 1-listed and scheduled national monument.
Gould explained that the King’s Tower tour, which costs between £5 and £15, would offer “a window on the world of kings.” Visitors will get a chance to enjoy Henry’s views over south Dorset and also see the king’s “appearance door,” where he would stand to be seen by his guests in the outer bailey and by people outside the castle walls.
“It’s a bit like the Buckingham Palace balcony, where the royal family waves to everyone,” said Gould. “This is the spot where the king could look out over the castle, the village, and his land.”
The addition of the south building to the keep covered the door for hundreds of years. When it was found again during repairs in 2006, it showed how important Corfe Castle was, experts said.
The trust said it plans to keep the platform there for a year, or until the repairs are finished.
Published: 3rd November 2024
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