MARTELLO TOWERS
South
coast Martello Towers had
several distinguishing features: round appearance, first-floor entrance doorway,
and two small windows. Inside, ammunition and supplies were stored on the ground
floor, known generally as the magazine. In most towers a cistern was sunk into
the foundations to store clean water. The middle floor was the garrison's living
quarters for twenty-four men and one officer, and was usually divided up into
three or four rooms. There were two fireplaces for cooking and heating. Built
into the wall was a stone staircase leading up to the roof, where the cannon was
mounted on a rotating oak carriage. A massive brick pillar rose from the foundations
to the roof to support the weight of the gun, and provided the base for the central
pivot, around which the gun carriage could turn through 360 degrees.
Only
25 of the original 74 South Coast Martello Towers still stand; the loss of 49
towers in the last 190 years is not, however, as a result of poor construction.
Most have been washed away by an encroaching sea undermining them, others succumbed
to the explosives and hammers of property developers and the Royal Engineers,
or shot and shell of the Royal Artillery.
200 feet up on the cliffs above East Wear Bay, it was quite possibly used by the Coast Blockade and Coast Guard, but was described as having defective brickwork as early as 1873 in a report on coastal defences. The tower may have been occupied during the Second World war, but if so, was abandoned soon afterwards. By the 1970's Folkestone Corporation had bought the tower and begun repair work. By the 1990's, the stucco cement rendering had been replaced with one of brick, and with a ground-level door and extra windows added at both floor levels, the tower became a residence.
Martello Tower No.2
Tower 2 is about 50 feet lower than No.1, and sited on a small knoll slightly further inland, where Wear Bay Road is now situated. The tower
Martello Tower No.3
Tower 3 stands on the cliffs above Copt Point, Folkestone, and overlooks the harbour below. It is open as a visitor centre. From the 1850's, the tower
Another family subsequently lived in the tower until 1914. One former resident remembered chickens being kept on the ground floor! Up until 1940, the first floor of the tower was used as a clubhouse for a miniature golf course, and the word 'GOLF' painted in large white letters around the outer wall. The tower is still surrounded by a golf course.
In 1940, the tower was given an extra concrete room on the roof which occupied the sea-facing side of the original gun platform, and part of the parapet coping was removed. A small window looked out across the harbour, and mounted a Hotchkiss machine-gun. A Naval detachment of three officers and nine ratings manned the tower known as 'C.M.O. 77' (Combined Mining Operations) due to the nine mines that could be detonated by remote control from within the tower. A further platform was built on top of the observation post in about 1943, although this was removed after the war. Not until 1990 was the tower again used, purchased by Shepway District Council and later opened as the Martello Tower Visitor Centre. During renovation work in 1990, workmen clearing debris from the ground floor found a ramp sloping down into the foundations, leading into a pool of water, which was a natural source of water for the garrison.
Today the visitor centre houses an exhibition detailing local history and geology, including a World War Two display in the observation post.
Parts of the outer expanses have been lost to the sea over the centuries, but the circular keep survived at the top of the beach. This was converted into a Martello Tower.
Towers
of Strength: the Story of Martello Towers
Bill Clements
... a revolution in defensive technology in the 19th century which cost as
much in real terms as our nuclear deterrent does now
