Built by King Henry II in 1165 to stop his barons attempting an attack on his authority, Orford Castle has had various private owners over the years and is now in the care of English Heritage. Besides being a wonderful place to explore, the castle also houses a fascinating museum in its upper hall and is a short stroll from another Orford landmark - the Church of St Bartholomew

The Suffolk coast is home to many historic landmarks - among them Orford’s strangely fascinating castle keep, set among its former defence mounds.

Built in 1165 by King Henry II, Orford Castle was one of the most important castles in medieval England, protecting the country against the ever present threat of coastal invasion.

A most impressive structure, the castle consisted of a curtain wall with a number of flanking towers, and a twin-towered gatehouse surrounding a polygonal keep (or great tower). A large ditch around the outside of the curtain wall provided further protection.

Today little more than the great tower remains. Protected by a portcullis, it resembles no other tower in Britain or Ireland; its basic plan of a circular tower incorporates three great turrets rising to some 90ft high, which are spaced equidistantly around it. Looking more closely at the structure, there are actually twenty-one sides making up the exterior of the keep.

The lovely triangular Norman arch can still be seen, and inside the keep’s thick stone walls is what was once a fortified family residence, with spiral stairs inside each of the towers leading to a maze of rooms and passageways.

The basement contains a well at its centre and at the first level is a wedge-shaped chapel. In all, the great tower is five storeys high; the first and second floors spanning two levels, above this the roof has battlemented parapets located between the three turrets that then rise above roof level.

The castle changed hands frequently during the 13th century Barons’ Wars and in 1336 was sold by King Edward III to Robert of Ufford, Earl of Suffolk. In subsequent years, it had various private owners, among them the Marquises of Hertford (from 1754 to 1870) and local MP Sir Arthur Churchman, who acquired it in 1928 and presented it to the nation.

Orford Town Trust then became custodian trustees and the castle was opened to the public in 1930. During the Second World War it was requisitioned by the military, who were based there whilst manning a radar installation on the roof and in the early 1960s Orford Town Trust transferred responsibility for the castle’s upkeep to the then Ministry of Works.

English Heritage took over ownership in 1984. For details of opening times and admissions visit www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConProperty.38

Another recent development was the opening of a museum in the castle’s upper hall, which houses a display by the Orford Museum Trust, including local finds of Roman brooches, medieval seals and coins and various paraphernalia associated with the ancient borough of Orford. For more details visit www.orfordmuseum.org.uk

The Church of St Bartholomew
Built around the same time as Orford Castle (between 1165 and 1173) a series of ruined chancel arcades is all that remains of Orford’s original church. One of only six medieval Suffolk churches dedicated to St Bartholomew the Apostle, much of the structure was rebuilt in the 14th century, including the present nave and its side aisles. A tower was built at the west end forming the shape of the present splendid church and a new roof was added in 1562.

In 1830 the southwest buttress of the tower gave way, enveloping the church in a great cloud of dust. A major restoration project was undertaken in the 1890s, the interior and re-hanging of the bells completed in time to ring in the Millennium. But the greatest treasure of the church is its remarkable font, still in superb condition, and retaining its dedicatory motto exhorting prayers for the dead.