Lady Mary Bankes had already defended the castle in 1643; a Royalist officer betrayed it to Parliament in 1646 during the second siege. Parliament then blew up the towers and the ruins stand today as one of England's most dramatic castle remains. The whole episode became a symbol of Royalist loyalty and female courage.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
Research a location near Dorset