A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



rises 20 ft. in height, but is mutilated by an excavation through the top. It 

 was formerly surrounded by a fosse, the greater part of which has either been 

 filled in or destroyed by digging for gravel ; it is most in evidence on the 

 north, where the counterscarp is 4 ft. 9 in. 



HuNSTON (xxxiv, 16). — South-east of the village, 8^ miles north-east-by- 

 east from Bury St. Edmunds, is a small mount surrounded by a fosse. The 

 form of the mount has been destroyed by an indiscreet attempt at exploration, 

 and the fosse now contains water. 



Offton (Ixv, 15). — Site of OfFton Castle, 4 miles south from Needham 

 Market. A square area with an abrupt escarpment 1 4 ft. above the water, 

 is surrounded by a moat 35 ft. in breadth ; to the east of the entrance on the 

 north the moat narrows to 28 ft., apparently by the subsidence and conse- 

 quent spreading of the mount at this point. The counterscarp of the 

 moat is 6 ft. On the south side of the exterior of the moat are evidences 

 of another embanked field inclosure. These works are situated on high 

 ground which rapidly declines on the north and east, allowing of extensive 

 observation of the surrounding country. It has the appearance of an early 

 befossed mount adapted to later mediaeval defence. 



Orford (Ixix, 14). — Orford Castle, at the west end of the town, 9 miles 

 east from Woodbridge, occupies a commanding position on the sea coast, on 



the western bank of the 

 River Ore, protecting the 

 adjacent harbour — now 

 choked and useless — which 

 provided a haven for Fle- 

 mish mariners when the 

 families of Glanville and 

 Valoines successively held 

 this stronghold. The 

 mount, retaining the poly- 

 // gonal keep, is very irregular 

 '^\ // in outline, and was sur- 

 'v^ / rounded by a double fosse, 

 which sand digging and 

 other encroachments have 

 more or less destroyed, and 



\ whatever outer works may 

 p. ,^„..,, -, ^ , have defended a bailey are 



SCALE or FBET "°^ beyond recognition, 



O 100 aoo 300 ^^^ no plan of a base-court 



* ' can be traced. The steepest 



Orfcrd Castu part of the escarpment of 



the mount is on the west, 

 where it is 34 ft. with a counterscarp of 23 ft., the fosse at this point is 15 ft. 

 wide at the base and 70 ft. wide from edge to edge. The entrance is on the 

 south, where a causeway, of which some supporting masonry remains, curves 

 between one end of the fosse abutting upon the concave termination of the 

 other end, by which the approach to the keep was completely covered. A 

 causeway crosses the fosse on the north, and in the north-western depths of 



592 



