 The keep was surrounded by a curtain wall with probably four flanking towers and a fortified gatehouse protecting a relatively small bailey; these outer defences, rather than the keep, probably represented the main defences of the castle. The marshes nearby were drained turning the village of Orford into a sheltered port. The castle, including the surrounding ditch, palisade and stone bridge, cost £ 1,413 to build, with the work possibly being conducted by the master mason Alnoth. Some of the timbers were brought from as far away as Scarborough, and the detailed stonework being carved from limestone from Caen in Normandy, the remainder of the stone being variously from local mudstone and coralline, as well as limestone from Northamptonshire.
