Virtual Orford Castle

Virtual Orford Castle

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  1 of 4: Welcome to the virtual tour of Orford Castle

  If you have the VRML plug-in installed you can explore this castle. There are details on the right of this page explaining how to install the plug-in and how to move around in VRML worlds.

  Much of the information used for this reconstruction comes from an English-Heritage report (AI/22/2004) by Louise Barker. The report is available from English-Heritage for a small fee.

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  2 of 4: The central keep

  The central keep is the only part of the castle that still remains. The core of the keep is roughly circular and it has three square towers that form a triangle as seen from above. See the inset in the top right hand corner of the picture to see what the keep looks like from above. A wood cone formed the roof of the hall that is on the top floor of the castle. The keep is situated on top of a mound of earth (known as a motte).

  There would probably have been buildings inside the castle situated against the curtain wall, but these are not shown in the picture above.

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  3 of 4: The outer earthworks

  Investigations performed by English-Heritage have revealed a large circular ditch and bank once surrounded the castle. Much of this bank and ditch have been destroyed over the centuries. In the background is the village of Orford that overlooks the castle.

  Entrance to the castle was via a gap in the bank and a bridge across the ditch. This is not shown in any detail above.

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  4 of 4: The Curtain Wall

  The curtain wall of the castle has now completely disappeared. The stones from the wall have probably been used to construct other buildings in the area. Luckily for us the keep has not been destroyed. Again, the appearance of the curtain wall is based on invstigations performed by English-Heritage.

  The low walls leading off to the bottom left corner of the picture form a barbican. The purpose of the barican was to channel anyone attacking the castle into a small area where they could be fired upon by the defenders. The barbican is at an angle to the main entrance giving the defenders more to shoot at.