Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for ORFORD

ORFORD, a small town, a parish, and a sub-district, in Plomesgate district, Suffolk. The town stands on the river Ore or Orford-haven, 5 miles S S W of Aldborough r.station, and 18 E by N of Ipswich; took its name from a ford on the river Ore; was the birthplace of Bishop Herbert de Losinga, who removed the see of Thetford to Norwich, and founded Norwich cathedral; has remains of acastle, built in 1165; had an Augustinian friary, two ormore chapels, and an hospital or a chantry, founded in the time of Edward I., some traces of which are still visible; figured early as a port of considerable importance; sentthree ships, with 62 men, to the siege of Calais in 1359; was made a borough in the time of Henry III.; sent two members to parliament, but was disfranchised by the re-form act of 1832; is still governed by a mayor, 8 port-men, and 12 burgesses; gave the title of Earl, in 1697, to Admiral E. Russell, and in 1742, to Sir Robert Walpole; is now decayed and ill-built; and has a post-office‡ under Wickham-Market, a small town hall, a church, and a Primitive Methodist chapel. The river Ore, or Orford-haven, is simply the lower reach of the river Alde, suddenly deflecting from the vicinity of these a about a mile S of Aldborough, and running about 10 miles somewhat parallel to the coast, and past Orford, to Hollesley-bay at Butley-creek; and was long a good harbour, but became choked by shifting shingles. A gentlycurved promontory, called Orfordness, projects from the river at Orford to the sea; flanks the N extremity of Hollesley-bay; and has two lighthouses, called the Orfordness lights, the one built before 1751, the otherin 1792, respectively 87 and 68 feet high, and bothshowing fixed lights. There is also a floating light, 4½ miles to the S E. The castle of Orford stood on an eminence, commanding a fine view; belonged to Hubertde Burgh, and passed, through the Despencers, the De Valoines, the Uffords, the Willoughbys, and others, to the Marquis of Hertford; was taken, in 1217, by Louis the Dauphin; and survives in sufficient remains to serveas a sea-mark. These remains comprise a polygonalkeep of 18 sides, inscribed in a circle of 54 feet in diameter, and rising to the height of 90 feet, together withthree square embattled towers on the W, the N E, and the S E sides, each projecting 12 feet with a breadth of22 feet; and they have, in the interior, both round and pointed arches. The church comprises a very fine Norman chancel, now in ruins, with massive pillars 12 feethigh, a decorated English nave, recently restored, with a clerestory and quatre-foiled lights, and a later English porch with a niche and fine cross; had a tower, which fell in 1830; and contains a richly carved octagonal font, and six brasses dated 1500, 1580, 1591, and 1605. F. Mason, the champion of English orders, wasburied here in 1621; and the father of Crabbe, the poet, kept the parish-school in the church-porch. A weeklymarket was formerly held on Monday, but has been dis-continued. A fair is held on 24 and 25 June. Sometrade is done in corn and coal; large quantities of oystersare taken in the river; and the town ranks as a sub-port to Woodbridge. The parish contains also the hamlet of Raydon; it was re turned, at some periods, as including the extra-parochial tracts of Gedgrave and Havergate-Island; and it comprises, together with these two tracts, 3, 156 acres of land, and 844 of water. Real property, £5, 684. Pop. in 1851, 1,045; in 1861, 948. Houses, 241. The decrease of pop. was caused by the migration of families engaged in the shipping-trade. The living is a p. curacy, annexed to the rectory of Sudbourne, in the diocese of Norwich.—The sub-district contains alsosix other parishes, and the two extra-parochial tracts. Acres, 20, 762. Pop., 3, 281. Houses, 755.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a small town, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Orford CP/Ch       Orford SubD       Plomesgate RegD/PLU       Suffolk AncC
Place: Orford

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