Orford

To many people Orford provides exaetly the right image of what a eastle should be: strong, solid and dominating. It is a wonderful eastle to visit and its setting above Orford Ness and the town of Orford itself makes a good day out. The eastle is well managed by English Heritage who provide an exeellent set of booklets, souvenirs and posteards.

Orford is unique in English eastle building as everything about its eonstruetion is so well documented. The complete building accounts survive in the Public Record Office in Kew. The castle was built between 1165 and 1173, with a total (most in the first two years) of ?l,4l3 being spent. This seems remarkably cheap when one considers the manpower involved to construct such a structure. The average wage in those days was a penny a day {240 pence = ?l), with the total revenue for the crown being ?10,000 per annum. It was therefore a considerable sum in those days. There were however hidden costs not included in this sum as certain goods and services were exchanged for taxes due and to settle debts. The first constable appointed in 1167 was

Bartholomew de Granville, who earned the grand sum of ?20 a year.

The eastle was built to stamp Henry I I’s supremacy on this part of the coast and to act as a deterrent to his wayward Earl, Hugh Bigod. Why he was never executed we don’t know. Would that have been a trigger for a nationwide revolt? Henry II already had royal castles at Ipswich, Eye and Haughlcy, but what was needed was something more substantial and up to date. Orford was state of the art. All sides could be defended and there were no ‘blind spots’. At the same time, the marshes were drained and the port improved.

The castle was built of three different types of stone. Most of the walls were built of local clayey limestone, sandy oolite from Northampton for the finer work and Caen stone for the inside. The stone was landed at the newly improved Orford Quay.

The keep was the first part to be worked on, followed by the curtain walls with towers and the embankments, although there must have been substantial earth moving to begin with to create the castle’s base. The building is on a substantial

Hill and I wonder if there was a castle here even earlier.

The keep is a tall, l8-sided, polygonal structure with three projecting towers in tripod formation and is approached by a set of steps. These steps are modern, but they are faithful to the original. The use of steps was normal and deliberate to slow down any intrusion by an opposing force should they get past the curtain walls. The holes in the turret above were not ‘murder holes’ for pouring down boiling oil or water or shooting arrows, but were vents for the kitchen fires. The door originally had a portcullis and perhaps also a drawbridge.

Inside the keep door is a portico or lobby, below which, connected by a spiral staircase, is the well (33 feet (10 m) deep), a latrine and space to keep prisoners. The well water, 1 understand, tastes rather salty. The lobby is triangular in shape. Inside one can clearly see where the great wooden bolts fitted to the outer and inner doors. Look also for the mainly 17th-century graffiti. There are seven levels to the castle.

Beyond the entrance lobby on the ground floor is the main reception and dining area. There is a seat round the outside and a fireplace, although this has been altered since the castle was built. Beyond this room was the kitchen, with a very large fireplace, sink and a drain. There is a twin lavatory off the kitchen. All the lavatories and drains in this turret connect to chutes in the wall and the exit points can be clearly seen outside. A small staircase leads up to the constable’s room. Note the small urinal in the passageway. An extra room behind the fireplace may well have been the priest’s room.

Returning to the lower reception room a larger spiral staircase leads us to the next level where the chapel is situated. This was a typical arrangement with nothing above it so the person’s prayers could go directly to God with the minimum disruption. Inside the chapel are the altar, piscina and aumbries. The chapel originally contained the winding mechanism for the portcullis.

On the second floor is the upper hall. This was probably used as the main living area for the constable, his family and guests. This is similar to the hall below, but there is no stone seating. There arc stones projecting out around the room at regular intervals at a height of around 10 feet (3 m). These are called corbels and there arc even two either side of the fireplace. These corbels originally supported a conical roof, like a wigwam. There was probably a gallery or catwalk built into the walk space.

There is another kitchen on this level, again with a drain. Off one of the window recesses is a lavatory and room for a private solar. Most people would have slept in buildings in the inner bailey.

The next level up the spiral stairease, level with the catwalk, contains a cistern. This collected rainwater and was obviously helpful if the well dried up or if you wanted to avoid a trip down to the basement.

The final level is the roof. There is no visitor access to the three turrets. These would originally have been reached by ladders and were fighting platforms. These platforms would have had crenels or shutters to fit between the battlements. These crenels were hinged so someone could shoot out and then let the flap fall back. There is also an oven and baking chamber. (Exactly the same can be seen at Conisborough Castle in South Yorkshire, which is almost a twin of Orford.) From the roof there are good views of Havergatc Island and the town.

There is now nothing left of the curtain walls. The last section fell in the l830s.

Orford was attacked by Bigod in 1173, but the castle withstood the assault well. By 1174, the disobedient baron had been brought to heel by Henry II. In return for Bungay and Framlingham, Bigod was forced to pay a huge fine, which more than compensated Henry for the building of Orford.

At this point it is worth telling the story of the Orford Merman. It occurred in about 1167 when the castle was in its infancy and Bartholomew dc Granville was still establishing himself as the

Castle’s first constable. The story was recorded by Ralph de Coggeshall around 1207.

Men fishing in the sea caught in their nets a wild man. He was naked and was like a man in all his member.';, covered with hair and with a long shaggy heard. He eagerly ate whatever was brought to him but if it was raw he pressed it between his hands until at la. st all the juice was expelled. He would not talk, even when tortured and hung up by his feet. Brought into church, he showed no signs of reverence or belief He sought his bed at sunset and always remained there until sunrise.

He ivas allowed to go into the sea, strongly guarded with three lines of nets, but he dived under the nets and came up again and again. Eventually he came back of his own free will. But later on he escaped and was never. seen again.

(Quoted from Framlingham and Orford Castles by Derek Renn (English Heritage, 1988))

After an unsuccessful rebellion against Henry 11 in 1173/4, Orford was reinforced and accounts survive for wages, cheese, bacon and other supplies.

In October 1216, King John died at Newark Castle leaving his ninc-year-old son as the new king, Henry III. He was speedily crowned at Gloucester as a group of rebellious barons had offered the

Crown to Louis, Dauphin of France (later to be Louis IX). Taking advantage of the volatile state of the nation, Louis attacked England in 1217 and captured Orford with apparent ease. However, John had appointed an excellent regent to act on young Henry’s behalf: William the Marshall, Earl of Pembroke. Pembroke quickly rallied those loyal to the new king together and defeated the French at the Battle of Lincoln in May 1217. Louis was captured and only returned to his homeland after the signing of the Lambeth Peace Treaty.

The castle was repaired but by 1280 had become irrelevant. The estuary at Orford was silting up, trade declined and royal business was transferred elsewhere. The castle was rented out (at one point to the Bigod family) and eventually sold. From then on it passed to various owners, the most notable being prime minister Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745), who was created 1st Earl of Orford.

In 1930 the castle passed to the Orford Town Trust. In 1962 it came under state control and is now well looked after by English Heritage.