Transcribed by Colin Ager
ORFORD, a small town, Port, and ancient borough, which had formerly a weekly
market, is seated on the west bank of the Ore, 5 miles above the mouth of that
river; 5 S.S.W. of Aldborough; 19 miles E.N.E. of Ipswich; 11 miles E. of
Woodbridge; 10 miles S. by E. of Saxmundham; and 88 miles N.E. of London; in
Plomesgate Union, and Woodbridge County Court district. The river Ore, from
which Orford takes its name, rises near Saxted and is but a small stream flowing
past Framlingham, Parham, Marlesford, and Blaxhall, to near Snape Bridge, where
it falls into the river Alde. The latter, after passing Aldborough, is commonly
called the river Ore, and the singular manner in which it turns southward at
Aldborough, and runs past Orford, parallel with the sea coast, is already
noticed at page 465. Orfordness and the Lantern Marshes, which lie opposite
Orford, are only about a mile in breadth, but form the broadest part of the long
but narrow peninsula which separates the town and the river from the sea. The
borough of Orford has 1,302 inhabitants in 1831, but only 1,083 in 1871,
including 57 in GEDGRAVE, a parish and tithe-free lordship and civil parish of
about 1,500 acres, extending three miles southward to the confluence of the
rivers Butley and Ore; and 4 in HAVERGATE ISLAND, formerly extra parochial, but
now a parish of about 260 acres, in the river Ore, from 1½ to 3½ miles S. of
Orford, where the estuary is commonly called Orford Haven. This island belongs
to H. Edwards, Esq., of Sutton. Sir Richard Wallace, Bart, is lord of the manors
of Orford, Gedgrave, and Raydon, and owns most of the parishes, which comprise
about 3,155 acres of land, and 844 acres of water. Upon the summit of the hill,
on the west side of the town, are the massive remains of Orford Castle,
consisting chiefly of the keep, which is of Norman origin. Its figure is a
polygon of eighteen sides, described within a circle whose radius is 27 feet. It
is flanked by three square towers, placed at equal distances, on the west,
north-east, and south-east sides; each tower measures in front about 22 feet,
and overlooks the polygon, which is ninety feet high. The walls at the base are
20 feet thick; at the lower part they are solid, but galleries and small
apartments are formed in them above. Round this building ran two circular
ditches, one 15 and the other 38 feet distant from the walls. Between these
ditches was a circular wall, part of which, opposite the south-east tower, was
remaining some years ago. This wall was 40 feet high, and had a parapet and
battlements at the top. The entrance to the castle was through a square
building, adjoining the west side of the keep, to which a bridge conducted over
the two ditches. The interior of the keep contained one room in each of its four
stories, but the original floors and roof went to decay many years ago. A new
floor was laid in one of the upper stories in 1831, by the third Marquis of
Hertford, who also put on a new roof, inserted several new windows, and
furnished the apartment with a table, chairs, &c., for the accommodation of
visitors. A spiral staircase leads to the top of the building, which commands
extensive prospects both of sea and land. Francis, the second Marquis of
Hertford, purposed to take the keep of this once-formidable castle down about
the year 1805, but it was considered a necessary sea-mark, especially for ships
coming from Holland, which, by steering so as to make the castle cover or hide
the church, avoided a dangerous sand-bank, called the Whiting, Government
interfered and prevented its demolition. In 1215, Hugh Bigod and John
Fitz-Robert were made governors of Norwich and Orford castles; and after them,
Hubert de Burgh was appointed governor of both. In the 48th Henry III., after
that monarch had been taken prisoner at the battle of Lewes, by his barons, they
conferred this post, which seems to have been considered an important one, on
Hugh le Despenser. By one of Henry’s successors, Orford Castle was given to the
descendants of Peter de Valoines, who made it the chief seat of their barony. In
the 4th of Edward III., Robert de Ufford, having married the daughter and
co-heiress of Robert de Valoines, obtained a grant of this castle, which
afterwards passed to the Willoughby de Eresby family, and from them to the
Stanhope and Devereux families. In 1754, this and the adjoining manor of
Sudborne were sold by the Executors of the late Viscount Hereford to the Earl,
afterwards Marquis of Hertford. By a charter of Henry III., the “town” was given
to the corporation to “build and deck,” the castle being expressly excepted.
The town of Orford is said to have been once of considerable extent, and to have
had the castle in its centre. Great quantities of old bricks, stones, and other
remains of buildings have frequently been turned up by the plough, in the fields
to the west and south of the castle, where several enclosures still retain the
name of street annexed to their denomination of field, in allusion to streets
formerly situated there. Its market, formerly held on Monday, was established in
king Stephen’s reign, but is now obsolete. It had formerly two fairs, but
recently only one, which is now discontinued. The Borough was incorporated at an
early period, and sent two members to Parliament, until it lost that privilege
by being placed in Schedule A., among the other small boroughs, in the Reform
Act of 1832. It was represented as early as the reign of Edward I., but
neglecting, for a long series of years, to avail itself of the elective
franchise, it lost this right, which is supposed to have been restored to it by
Richard III., who, in the first year of his reign, granted the town a charter,
under which it is still governed by a mayor, eight portmen, twelve capital
burgesses, and a recorder, who hold a court of Sessions on the Monday before the
feast of St. John, or oftener, if necessary. Having but a small and unimportant
jurisdiction, the Corporation of Orford was left untouched by the Municipal
Reform Act of 1835, like that of Aldborough, which it much resembles; indeed,
several persons have been members and officers of both corporations, and many of
them reside at a distance. The Orford corporate body and officers are, George
Rope, Esq., mayor; F. L. Capron, Esq., recorder; J. R. Wood, Esq., deputy
recorder; P. B. Long, Esq., town clerk; Sir R. Wallace, Bart., Captain Wallace,
Rev. J. Maynard, Hon. F Cadogan, and Samuel Rope, George Rope, F. L. Capron,
H.D. Erskine, and Edgar Disnee, Esqrs., portmen; and Rev. W. F. Maynard, and
Messrs. G. Capron, E Rope, F. Keer, jun., John Wade, T. Davy, and F.L Place,
capital burgesses.
THE TOWN HALL is a small mean looking building, in which petty sessions, &c.,
are occasionally held for the borough. In 1359, Orford sent three ships and 62
men to the siege of Calais. The town is now small and indifferently built, but
was once much larger, and had a considerable trade, said to have been ruined by
the harbour becoming blocked up by a dangerous bar, which prevents the passage
of large vessels. It is now a creek under the port of Woodbridge, and has a
coast officer. A few vessels are employed here in the corn and coal trade, and
there is in the river a considerable oyster fishery, now held on lease from the
corporation by Mr. William Burrows for ten years, from March, 1873, at the
yearly rent of £60. There is a coast guard station, at Orfordness, on the sea
coast, about 1½ miles E. of the town; and a mile from each other are two light
houses, called High and Low Lights, one built in 1792, and the other more than a
century ago. They are now brilliantly lighted on the most improved principle.
Here was also a revenue cruiser, with a commander, four men, and two boys, until
1868.
Orford gave the title of Earl to Admiral Russell, who was elevated to the
peerage by William III., for his eminent services; but it became extinct on his
death without issue, in 1727, but was revived again in the person of Sir Robert
Walpole, in 1742. It again became extinct on the death of Horatio, the fourth
Earl, in 1797; but in 1806, it was conferred on Horatio, the second Baron
Walpole, of Wolterton, who was succeeded in 1822 by his grandson, who was
colonel of the West Norfolk Militia, and High Steward of the borough of Lynn. He
was succeeded in 1858 by his son, Horatio Walpole, the present and fourth Earl
of Orford, Baron Walpole of Walpole, and Baron Walpole of Wolterton, in Norfolk,
who resides at the latter place. Herbert de Losinga, the first Bishop of
Norwich, is said to have been born here. He became so rich, from the numerous
preferments given him by William Rufus, that he purchased the Abbacy of
Winchester, and the see of Thetford, but removed the latter to Norwich, where he
founded the Cathedral, and died in 1119.
ORFORD CHURCH (St. Bartholomew) was, when in its original state, a large and
handsome structure. The nave and its two side aisles are entire, but the
chancel, having fallen to ruin, was excluded by a wall built across the east end
of the nave, many years ago; and the remains of it consists of a double row of
five thick columns, supporting circular arches, decorated with the zigzag
ornaments. This cancel is supposed to have been built long before the nave, and
appears to have been in a very ruinous condition in 1720, when a marble
monument, bearing the kneeling effigy of the Rev. Francis Mason, was removed
from it to the nave. This learned divine was incumbent here many years, and died
in 1621. He was chaplain to James I., and wrote many works in defence of the
Church of England. There are in the church several brass inscriptions, and an
ancient but elegant font, and a coffin-shaped stone bearing a cross fleury. The
nave was restored about 1853, and five new windows inserted, at the cost of
about £200. The upper part of the tower fell in 1829, and has not been rebuilt.
The benefice is a perpetual curacy, which has from an early period been
consolidated with the rectory of the adjoining parish of Sudbourne, in the
patronage of the Crown, and now in the incumbency of the Rev. John Maynard,
M.A., who has a neat parsonage here. (See Sudbourne). The tithes of Orford were
commuted in 1838 for £317 per annum. Orford had formerly two chapels, dedicated
to St. John and St. Leonard, both of which were standing in 1500, and the former
stood on the land still called St. John’s Chapel Field. Here were also a
Benedictine Nunnery, founded by Ralph de Albini, an hospital of St. Leonard, and
a chauntry, valued at the Dissolution at £6. 13s. 11½d. per annum. THE PRIMITIVE
METHODISTS have a small chapel in the town. THE NATIONAL SCHOOL, a handsome
building of red brick, was erected in 1872, at a cost of about £1,200, raised by
voluntary subscriptions, towards which the lord of the manor and the rector
contributed liberally. It is under Government inspection, and attended by about
100 children, by whose weekly payments, together with State aid, &c., it is
maintained. There is also a BRITISH SCHOOL, established about 1855, which is
supported by a grant, subscriptions, and scholars’ weekly payments, and attended
by about 80 children. The Town Estate comprises about 7 acres of land, and an
annuity of £30, paid by Sir Richard Wallace, in respect (as is supposed) of land
in his possession, formerly belonging to the hospital of St. Leonard. The income
is applied with the poor rates. About £9. 10s., received yearly from Sir M.
Stanhope’s Charity (vide Sutton), are distributed in small sums among the poor
of Orford. The town has a Subscription Library and Reading Room, and a Ladies’
Benevolent Society, for supplying poor, married, lying-in women of Orford and
Sudborne with baby linen, &c.
Also, see Orford in the 1830
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