The ruins of Corfe Castle rest on a hill near a quaint village of the same name in the southern county of Dorset. Built in the 11th and 12th century, the castle was designed to intimidate would-be attackers with a limestone keep that stood 20 meters (70 feet) tall. The castle was famously defended for three years during the English Civil War by Lady Bankes. During the final attack, Lady Bankes rained hot coals down at Parliamentary soldiers from her personal chambers. Like many of the fortified castles in England, the inner keep of Corfe Castle was then slighted, or dismantled, by its captors so that it could not be used by Royalist forces. Arrow slits and murder holes are still visible in the castle ruins today.
