The unique polygonal tower keep of Orford Castle stands beside the pretty town & former port which Henry II also developed here in the 1160s.

An 18-sided drum with three square turrets & a forebuilding reinforcing its entrance, the keep was built to a highly innovative design. The progress of its construction between 1165 and 1173 is extensively recorded in royal documents. Both exterior and interior walls survive almost intact, allowing visitors to explore the basement with its vital well & the lower & upper halls the latter the principal room of the castle. Round these polygonal rooms is a maze of passages, leading to the chapel, kitchen & other chambers in the turrets. From the roof there are magnificent views seaward to Orford Ness.

Recent archaeological work has provided a clearer understanding of how the castle worked & a new painting by Frank Gardiner shows how the keep & its vanished outer defences looked in their heyday. The upper hall now houses a display by the Orford Museum Trust, including local finds of Roman brooches, medieval seals & coins & some of the borough regalia. Graphic panels display maps, documents, pictures & photographs, illustrating Orfords history down to the 20th century.