Henry I’s luxurious tower at Corfe Castle reopens to visitors after 378 years
A National Trust viewing platform at Corfe Castle offers visitors a glimpse into the king’s royal quarters in Dorset.
“It’s a bit like the Buckingham Palace balcony, where the royal family stand to wave to everybody,” said Gould. “This was the point from which the king would be able to see down across the castle, the village,and his dominion.”
A luxurious suite of “rooms with a view”, built for the son of William the Conquerer but partly destroyed in the English Civil War, has become accessible to visitors for the first time in almost 400 years, thanks to a new viewing platform at one of England’s most dramatically situated castles.
The Castle in Dorset has been restored
The King’s Tower was built in 1107 for William’s son Henry I at Corfe castle, which sits on top of a steep hill on the Purbeck peninsula near Wareham in Dorset.
Today, for the first time in 378 years, that has changed, thanks to a new temporary viewing platform installed by the National Trust, the castle’s present owner. Visitors are now able to climb a stairway installed inside the keep to see up close the remains of the king’s lavish quarters – and his jaw-dropping view.
The project has arisen as part of an extensive three-year conservation project to shore up the castle against the effects of the climate emergency, which has accelerated deterioration from vegetation and weathering, said James Gould, the castle’s operations manager.
23-metre tower was Henry’s personal penthouse
Constructed from gleaming white limestone inside the imposing fortification, the 23-metre tower was Henry’s personal penthouse, built to the highest standards of luxury and including an “appearance door” from which he could be seen by his subjects far below.
After remaining a royal fortress for centuries, Parliamentarian forces partially destroyed the castle in 1646. The walls of the King’s Tower, though still standing, were badly damaged, and its grand upper rooms have been inaccessible ever since.
The trust said it plans to keep the platform in place for a year, or until it has completed its conservation repairs.