Greenlaning and castles

We get up today and enjoy our first 'full English breakfast' there are so many choices it is hard to choose. We tell ourselves we can't eat bacon every day! We set off fairly early on our first planned day at Stockbridge. It soon becomes evident we are not going to see half of the things planned as Geoff, armed with his borrowed Ordnance maps from Patrick wants to explore every little thing on the map. I manage to direct him to the first 'scheduled site', Knowlton Church and earthworks. This was a Norman church which had been built within a late Neolithic Henge monument. It is thought to have been done to show the transition from pagan ton Christian beliefs.

It was hard to show the bank around the church but this shot gives some indication

Next, following the maps we ended up right off the beaten track and were driving through tiny hedge lined lanes, trying to squeeze past tractors and other large vehicles. We stumbled upon a village called Whitchampton. This had lovely thatched cottages and an old church.

What a dream place to live. Although probably a nightmare in upkeep.

It took a lot of looking to find Bradbury Rings but finally we arrived.From a distance it just looks like a copse of trees but it is actually a huge iron age fortification.

There were 3 ditches surrounding the mound and you need to imagine that at the top of each there would have been a wooden palisade where defenders would have stood raining down arrows and stones etc. the following photo shows how deep the ditches are.

While we were eating our lunch- the apples we had commandeered from the free fruit bowl at the White Hart, these kids came along. Not sure what they were about but it sounded like they were high spirits.

After lunch we drove to Corfe Castle. Once again our GPS technology did Stirling service and we arrived without problem. This is the beginning of the walk up to see the castle. There were some ruins of a medieval mill on this stream.

The dramatic ruins of Corfe Castle stand on a natural chalk hill guarding the principal route through the Purbeck Hills. Originally it was built in wood. It may have been a defensive site even in Roman times and Corfe Castle certainly has had a colourful history. In 979 King Edward was reputedly murdered by his step-mother so that her own son Ethelred the Unready could become King of England. In the latter half of the 11th Century the Castle was rebuilt in stone by William the Conqueror and for the next six hundred years was a royal fortress used by the monarchs of England and their hangers on. It seemed to have some connection with most periods in English history and had many tales of the macabre such as French knights being thrown into the Oubliette and starved to death plus tales of heroism and treachery. There were several sieges there, the most famous being in the Civil War. It was blown up by the Parliamentarians after the war ended.

The castle is spectacular, rising in the background of the medieval village which was built to service the castle's needs

It is the long weekend and there were lots of re- enactment people there as they were going to have re-enactment battles of the Viking raids. They were camped all over the castle grounds

The views from the castle were just lovely

The village itself was lovely too