Orford Castle

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Oreford

In the civil parish of Orford. In the historic county of Suffolk (Modern Authority of Suffolk, 1974 county of Suffolk).

Orford Castle lies at the western edge of the village of Orford, the scheduled monument encompassing an area known as Castle Green (TM 44 NW 17). Orford is the earliest castle in England for which documentary evidence of its building survives. The Pipe Rolls, record its construction by King Henry II between 1165 and 1173 to a total cost of £1414 9s 2d. Orford Castle was a symbol of the King's power, strategically placed both to uphold royal authority in a region thickly planted with castles of powerful lords and to guard the coast against invasion. The castle has a number of special claims of interest which include the unique design of the polygonal keep and the fact that it was one of the earliest castles in the country to use mural or flanking towers along the curtain wall. The keep, is the only standing structure to survive. This remains in good condition standing some 30 metres high and constructed from at least 4 different kinds of stone. Most of the walls are made of roughly-cut blocks of local septaria, a sandy coloured mudstone, together with a more robust oolithic limestone from Northamptonshire. Internally a second local stone, corraline crag was also employed as well as Caen stone from Normandy for the finer detail. At the top of the south eastern turret of the keep a reinforced concrete roof was constructed during the Second World War. This was originally intended to hold an anti-aircraft gun but instead housed a radar observation post. (PastScape)
Heslop's important 1991 paper showed the sophistication of the design of the great tower. The roof of the upper hall was probably conical, with a domed interior celling, a reference to Byzantine splendour. Perhaps, one day, English Heritage will brave enough to replace the current modern roof with one that reproduces the original design.
Often described as being built to exercise some degree of royal control over the Bigod earls of nearby Framlingham. Certainly it would seem Bigod money, raised for returning their castle to them after revolt was used to fund the building. However, Orford was a significant medieval port at this period, exporting wool and lead to Europe, and the castle would have had a function in controlling that trade, collecting duties and safeguarding that money. I suspect one of the windowless intramural chambers in the great tower was a treasury and that one of the windowed chambers in one of the turrets was a muniment room, where records were made and stored. (The room I am thinking of does not have a fireplace but is warmed by the fireplace of the lower hall - this would keep parchment rolls dry and stop rot but reduce the fire risk.). The VCH suggests this was the site of an earlier, non royal, stronghold.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 285095)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TM41934987

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 391933; 1402806
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is ORF 001 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Web site links
  • http://www.castles-abbeys.co.uk/Orford-Castle.html
    http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/orford/orford.php
    http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_east_anglia/169/orfordcastle.htm
    http://www.castlegraphics.com/graphic/castles/castle_tours/orford.html
    http://accessibility.english-heritage.org.uk/default.asp?wci=Node&wce=8032
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.38
    http://www.ecastles.co.uk/orford.html
• Books
  • Hegarty, Cain and Newsome, Sarah, 2007, Suffolk's Defended Shore (English Heritage) p13-14 http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/Suffolks_Defended_Shore_-_Chap_1-5.pdf?1248951573
    Barker, L., 2004, Orford Castle, Orford, Suffolk (English Heritage Archaeological Investigation Series no: AI/22/2004)
    Allen, Jane, Potter, Valerie and Poulter, Margaret, 2002, The Building of Orford Castle: a translation from the Pipe Rolls, 1163-78 (Orford Museum)
    Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles of East Anglia (Malvern) p84-6
    Martin, Edward, 1999 [3edn], 'Medieval Castles' in Dymond, David and Martin, Edward (eds) An Historical Atlas of Suffolk (Lavenham) p58-9
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p236-7 [plan]
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p459
    Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p272-3
    Renn, D.F., 1973 (2edn), Norman Castles of Britain (John Baker)
    Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p769-71, plate 47
    Pevsner, N., 1961, The Buildings of England: Suffolk (London, Penguin) p355-6
    Toy, Sidney, 1953, The Castles of Great Britain (Heinemann) p105
    Evans, Herbert A., 1912, Castles of England and Wales (London) p299-305
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p106-11
    Wall, 1911, in Page, Wm (ed), VCH Suffolk Vol1 p592-3 [plan] http://www.archive.org/stream/victoriahisto01page#page/592/mode/1up
    Balding and Turner, 1908, in Redstone, Memories of Old Suffolk (London) p48-66
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p284-5 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/284/mode/1up
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p176 http://www.archive.org/details/abbeyscastlesanc00timbrich
    King, Edward, 1799-1805, Munimenta antiqua or Observations on antient castles (W.Bulmer and Co) Vol3 p150-4
    Buck, Samuel and Nathenial, 1774, Buck’s Antiquities (London) Vol2 p275
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol5 p73-6
• Journal Articles
  • Anon, 2004, 'Investigation of the curtain wall at Orford Castle concluded' CSG Newsletter Vol6 Issue1 p1
    Heslop, T.A., 1991, 'Orford Castle, nostalgia and sophisticated living' Architectural History Vol34 p36-58 [Reprinted in Liddiard, R. (ed), 2003, Anglo-Norman Castles (Woodbridge)]
    Drury, P.J. and Norton, E.C., 1985, ‘Twelfth-century floor- and roof-tiles at Orford Castle' Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol36.1 p1–7
    Martin, E.A., 1977-80, ‘Suffolk Archaeological Unit excavations, 1978’ Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol34 p220
    Brown, R, Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' English Historical Review Vol74 p249-280 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p90-121] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-8266%28195904%2974%3A291%3C249%3AALOC1%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P
    Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' English Historical Review Vol70 [Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)] pp19-64
    Roberts, 1930, Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol36 p33-58
    Anon, 1901, 'Survey of Orford Castle, 1600' Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol11 pt1 p50
    Redstone, V.B., 1899, 'Orford and its Castle' Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol10 pt2 p205-230
    Hervey, J., 1876, 'Observations on Orford Castle (Read 9 Jul 1872)' Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Vol5 pt1 p120-2
    1872, The Antiquary Vol2 p189-90 [unimportant]
    Hartshorne, C.H., 1842, 'Observations upon the present state of Orford castle in the county of Suffolk, with some conjectures as to the probable uses to which parts of the building were assigned' Archaeologia Vol29 p60-9
• Guidebooks
  • Rhodes, John, 2003, Orford Castle (London: English Heritage)
    Renn, D., 1988, Framlingham and Orford castles (London: English Heritage)
    Brown, R.Allen, 1988, Orford Castle, Suffolk (London: English Heritage)
    Brown, R.Allen, 1964, Orford Castle, Suffolk (HMSO)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) [lists sources for 1272-1422] p442-3
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/essexeng.html#suff10]