Corfe Castle in Purbeck was besieged for the first time by Parliamentary forces in 1643 while Sir John Bankes was away in Oxford with the king. Lady Mary Bankes conducted the defence with a tiny garrison of five men-at-arms and household servants, repulsing Parliamentary attacks. Her courage in defending Corfe during the first siege made her one of the most celebrated women of the Civil War.
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 this battlefield