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King
Henry II built Orford castle in the 12th century for coastal
defense. Orford, which at one time was as impressive as
Henry's later achievements at Dover castle, now stands in
splendid isolation with only its central defensive building,
called a keep, remaining.
Orford
represents the evolving science of castle design in the
late 12th and early 13th centuries. Orford's keep was an
intermediate design between the older rectangular and square
keeps, that were prone to undermining, and concentric castles.
Like earlier square or rectangular keeps, the entrance was
well protected by a forebuilding; a feature eliminated as
outer defensives became more effective. The keep has unique
polygon shaped walls on the outside, cylindrical walls on
the inside, with several unequal sides and three large rectangular
turrets reaching 90 feet, that gave archers a wide angle
of fire. The pointed windows and the chapel vaulting in
the forebuilding are among the earliest known examples of
Gothic architecture in England. Inside the Keep, there was
a large well-lit chamber with a spiral staircase in one
tower and chambers in the others. The curtain walls and
mural towers, of which there were at least four, are no
longer standing...
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