Orford, fishing town and par., Suffolk, on river Ore, 6 miles SW. of Aldeburgh and 20 miles NE. of Ipswich, 2702 ac. and 548 tidal water and foreshore, pop. 1147; P.O., T.O. Encroachments of the sea have destroyed the former importance of Orford, which anciently was a place of some consequence, with charters dating from the reign of Henry III. It returned 2 members to Parliament from the time of Edward I. until 1832. On the outskirts of the town are the remains of a castle erected in the reign of King Stephen. Oyster and other fisheries are carried on, also some trade in coal and corn.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))