The Church at Corfe

It is not particularly significant. It is not special but it does to me reflect what is special about the UK. Now as far as I can tell and that may be wildly inaccurate this place starts its history about 980 AD. A bloke called Alfred gets knifed by his Step Mother. He becomes a legend because he ruled for 4 years only. Hence the Nasty Step mother stories. I can not recall her name. She then appointed her Son Ethelread As the King. This seems to be the same bloke they called EthelreD the Unready because he got thumped at Hastings where a chap called William.popped over from France and gave Ethelred a good stuffing before lunch ! So now William is William the Conqueror, after a mornings work, and it is the sone William that in 1086 built the Castle at Corfe. It stayed in the ownership of the King until Elixabeth 1 sold it to a mate for 4750 pounds as I recall and now the place is a ruin. Perhaps that says something about the cost of keeping a castle. However that is not the end of the story because in the 1600 time when Olluver Cromwell wanted to be King and decided to attack the boss in what I believe is called the civil war the opposition troops occupied the church as a stable while they lay siege to the Castle. The nasty Roundheads took the lead from the roof to use as shot and the organ pipes as gunpowder casks and generally wreaked havoc. But the story does not end there for me because today as I was passing a church near Exeter I was informed that the Castle nearby was a focus if the civil war as well as no doubt every decent sized home of ostentatious wealth was given the favours handed out to loyal Royal supporters, and the Castle at Powderham would be no different. However the !riofers' mending the tiles that prevented me from entering the nearby church were most proud of the cannon shot holes in the church wall. Now protected with steel mesh ! So that was a good story.