The view from Corfe's other castle, "The Rings"

The Rings earthworks, a few hundred yards to the west of Corfe Castle, were the site of an 11th century Norman ring and bailey castle. It was a counter-castle or siege castle, i e a fortification built by a besieging force.

It is thought to have been built by King Stephen in 1139. This was at the beginning of a devastating civil war, a struggle between Stephen and his cousin Matilda for the right to the English crown.

The inset drawing shows the castle layout: the higher ring was the stronghold, the lower ring (or bailey) was where the troops were billeted. The act of building the castle indicates that a long siege was intended, but Stephen raised the siege when he learned that his cousin Maud had landed in Arundel with a small army.

The war raged thoroughout the country between 1139 and 1154, to be resolved only when Stephen appointed Matilda's son, Henry Plantagenet, as his heir.

The Rings was used during a later siege of Corfe Castle by the Parliamentarians as an emplacement for a battery of siege guns. Today it is manned only by badgers, who are redoubtable warriors but shrewd enough to know that even their skills will never undermine the larger castle in the distance.