Orford Castle Keep, Suffolk (United Kingdom) - 25th August 2015
Orford Castle Keep After a dull start to the day weather-wise, we decided to pop over the border to Suffolk and pay a visit to Orford Castle, on the East Anglian Coast. We’d both visited the location in the past, but we hadn’t been for a number of years, so it would be good to reacquaint ourselves with the Castle. To provide some background, Orford, these days, is a sleepy Suffolk village on the East Anglian Coast, about a 20 minute drive from Ipswich. However, back in its heyday in the middle ages, it was an important shipping port, so much to the extent that, in 1175, Henry II commenced work on his new castle, to consolidate his power in the region. Orford Castle is a bit of a misnomer as today, only the Keep remains - the curtain walls being robbed long ago in the 18 th century, after the port fell into decline following the silting up of the River Ore. This prohibited the entry to the port of the larger trading ships, sealing the fate of the town. In passing, it...