Orford Castle

Orford Castle was built by Henry II in the 12th Century. Henry II had a long and tumultuous reign as king (lasting from 1154-1189). He was said to be a good ruler, but he seemed to be under constant difficulties from rebellious barons, his own family, and friends. Orford Castle was built in response to some of those adversities, namely to proclaim his authority over the Earls of Norfolk (those residing in Framlingham Castle). He built the tower so that on a clear day, the Barons of Norfolk could look out over their land from Framlingham and see his tower in the distance on the coast.

This is the tower of Orford. When Henry II built his Castle, it would have originally have been surrounded by a Castle wall with towers to protect the main tower, or keep. The Tower, or keep, is nearly 30 meters high! By the 1840's all traces of the wall were gone and only the tower stood as a reminder of King Henry II's power. They think the wall was torn down and the stone re-used for other buildings.

Mom and I

Me, walking up to the entrance
The main hall right after you walk through the entrance.
The basement of the castle. The well is in the middle.

Mom walking up the spiral staircase
The chapel

Up close of the right side of the altar. The cutouts in the wall are where they kept the vestements and the cutout on the bottom is actually a sink where the priest would rinse out the vestements.

The windows in the chapel. These were the only windows in the original castle that were glazed. It was extremely rare and expensive to have actual windows, that right was reserved for the wealthy, and when they built the chapel, the windows were almost like an offering to God, having the best for Him.

Christopher sitting on a pew. The whole above him is so that when the chapel was filled, the servants could still stand out in the hallway and hear the sermon.
The Chaplain's room. The chimney from the kitchen is behind that main wall, and that heated the room.

The priests Latrine.
LOL...Me...you can guess where...

Christopher being funny

And it was Mom's turn.

The great hall. This was used when important people would come to visit.

The bakery on the roof. They put it on the roof so if by chance there was a fire, it wouldnt take out the entire castle.

The oven up close.

Mom on the roof

The view from the roof... the coast! The body of water is part of the Orford Ness and The North Sea.

Another view from the roof. The large building in the middle of the picture is St. Bartholomew's Church and tower.

The land surrounding the Castle. Part of the dips in the land were where the castle wall would have been and the ones past that were used to help slow down enemies.

Mom and I at the back of the castle...trying not to get blown away...the wind was CRAZY that day!

"King" Christopher

With his new Knight's Helmet keychain...lol

Framlingham Castle

Framlingham Castle, in Suffolk, is said to have been built by Raedwald between 599 and 624 AD. There are 13 towers that are built atop the huge encircling castle wall and those were erected during the late 12th or early 13th century and for over 400 years served as the residence of the Earls and Dukes of Norfolk. While the only building inside the walls that is still standing is a poorhouse that was built, when the castle was at the height of its use, the inside was filled with buildings and bustling with people. It was here that Queen Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII rallied her supporters before she took the throne in 1553.

The building that is still standing, was turned into a poorhouse in the 1600's and 1700's and was in use for over 200 years.

Giant lawn chess set on the grounds

It was awesome to be able to walk up on the battlements and walk all around the castle wall.

During the Tudor time, the Howard's lived in the castle and to compete with the grandeur the Tudor's were known for, the Howard's had elaborate chimney's built atop the towers. Only 2 or 3 were actually connected to the fireplaces...all the others were purely decorative.

Kite Festival!

So, today is Mom's last full day in England, and we packed in a TON of stuff today! We had a traditional English breakfast this morning at Pop Bellies in Huntingdon, stopped by a kite festival, saw Framlingham Castle, had a cream tea in the afternoon, visited Orford Castle, and came home and went out for Indian food for dinner! I'm not sure how we managed all that in a day, but we did!

While we were on our way to Framlingham, we spotted a kite festival and stopped and walked around. It was pretty neat to see all the different kites...they even had a competition going on between different kite groups and that was cool. People were flying kites in time to music and they had at least 3 kites! It was rainy and cold and windy when we first got there, but the sun finally decided to peek through.

English Breakfast balloons...Eggs, Sausage, Chips, and Mushrooms (this was Christopher's favorite balloon)

3 kites with long tails in the competition

And my new favorite picture of Christopher...it speaks for itself.

Sylvester and Tweety

Then, while I was napping, Mom and Christopher stopped at this old church and snapped some pictures.

The past couple of days...

Well, we've taken the past couple of days kind of easy and just kind of relaxed and hung out, which has been nice. Its been great having Mom here! She's made beer muffins and yellow cake with homemade hot chocolate sauce on it, which are 2 AMAZING things from home I always miss! So, I think I'm going to kidnap her and not let her come home....lol

We saw "Angels & Demon's" on Thursday (it opened a day early over here) and it was pretty good. It's been a couple of years since I read the Dan Brown novel, but I started it again and didnt get a chance to finish it before we saw the movie, so my uber anal-retentiveness wasn't able to come out in full force; so I can say with certainty, that it was a fantastic film! Once I finish the book and see the movie again, I'll let you know if it lives up to Jessica standard...lol
Today we ventured over to Birmingham. The pull for us to go was the IMAX theatre to watch
"Star Trek", yes, "Star Trek". lol. I grew up watching it and while I'm not a Trekkie, I did attend a trekkie convention with my dad and uncle when I was like 4 and I got to sit on Scotty's(James Doohan) lap! It was great! I do have to say, it was a fantastic movie!

I did miss that William Shatner wasnt in it...because he is awesome...lol.

Other than that, Birmingham was a bust...it was kind of in the ghetto. So, we saw the movie and then left. Tomorrow we're headed out to Framlingham Castle so look for a post from there!