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Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Oreford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

The castle was built between 1165 and 1173 by Henry II. The outer walls of the castle have gone but the central keep remains in almost perfect condition. It is nearly 30m high and is constructed of three different kinds of stone. Most of the walls are made of roughly-cut blocks of local clayey limestone (septaria) which erodes badly. For finer work a sandy oolite was brought from Northamptonshire, and for the finest work of all, mainly on the inside of the keep, a fine limestone was brought from Caen in Normandy. Henry II was duke of Normandy as well as King of England. At the top of the south eastern turret of the keep is a reinforced concrete structure which is part of a look out post built during World War II.

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

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TM41934987

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape Defra ELS number; 391933, 1402806

• Web site links
  • http://www.castles-abbeys.co.uk/Orford-Castle.html
    http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/castles/orford%20castle.htm
    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://www.touruk.co.uk/castles/castle_Orford.htm
    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
  • 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
    Balding and Turner, 1908, in Redstone, Memories of Old Suffolk (London) p48-66
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1897, Castles of England (Heinemann) Vol1 p284-5
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol2 (London) p176
    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 (English Heritage)
    Renn, D., 1988, Framlingham and Orford castles (English Heritage)
    Brown, R.Allen, 1988, Orford Castle, Suffolk (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]