This pretty ruin, sitting above the village of Corfe in Dorset, is what remains of one of the first English castles to be built of stone. It was constructed on the orders of William the Conqueror in the 11th century and was a royal power base until the reign of Elizabeth I.
During the 17th century English Civil War, its owners supported the doomed King Charles I and the castle was wrecked by parliamentary forces once Oliver Cromwell gained the upper hand. It's now looked after by the National Trust.