The Wild Man of Orford

Orford: fishermen once hauled up a hairy, silent man from the sea and locked him in this very castle.

Ralph of Coggeshall wrote that fishermen at Orford caught a wild man in their nets in the reign of Henry II. He was naked and hairy, with a shaggy beard, and could not or would not speak. He was kept in the new castle, where he ate raw fish and meat. Hung upside down and tortured, he still said nothing. Taken to the church, he showed no sign of understanding. Later he was let swim in the harbour behind a triple barrier of nets, but he dived beneath them and escaped. To everyone's surprise he came back of his own accord, before slipping away to the sea for good.