Orford Castle & Church
|
|
Orford Castle
|
-
a strangely fascinating castle keep set among its former defence
mounds; an historic landmark on the Suffolk coast. Built in 1165, by
King Henry II, Orford Castle was one of the most important castles in
medieval England, protecting England 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 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.
|
|
St Bartholomew's Orford
|
Built at 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 Church 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. 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.
|
