thumb|300px|[[Prince of Wales Tower – oldest Martello tower in North America (1796), Point Pleasant Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada]]
A Martello tower is a type of small defensive fort that was built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were for coastal defence.
A Martello tower stands up to high, with two floors and a typical garrison of one officer and 15–25 men. The round structure and thick solid masonry walls made it resistant to cannon fire, while its height made it an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece, mounted on the flat roof and able to traverse over a complete 360 degrees. A few towers had moats or other batteries and works attached for extra defence.
The Martello tower was used during the first half of the 19th century, but became obsolete with the introduction of powerful rifled artillery. Many have survived to the present day, often preserved as historic monuments.
Origins
thumb|left|The resistance of the [[Torra di Mortella to the British in 1794 inspired Martello towers]]
thumb|A view of Corsica and a Martello tower, 1788 painting "A cutter and a man of war off Corsica" by [[Nicholas Pocock]]
Martello towers were inspired by a round fortress, part of a larger Genoese defence system, at Mortella (Myrtle) Point in Corsica. The designer was Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino (el Fratin), and the tower was completed in 1565.
Since the 15th century, the Corsicans had built similar towers at strategic points around the island to protect coastal villages and shipping from Barbary corsairs. The towers stood one or two storeys high and measured in diameter, with a single doorway five metres off the ground that one could access only via a ladder that the occupants could remove.
Local villagers paid for the towers and watchmen, known as torregiani, who would signal the approach of unexpected ships by lighting a beacon fire on the tower's roof. The fire would alert the local defence forces to the threat. Although the pirate threat subsequently dwindled, the Genoese built a newer generation of circular towers (the Genoese towers), that warded off later foreign raids. The Oxford English Dictionary reports that "bass" is a name "given elliptically to various articles made of this [fibre] or similar material; e.g. a mat, a hassock, a flat plaited bag or flexible basket."|group=Note five feet from the walls, and filled up with sand; and although it was cannonaded from the Height for two days, within 150 yards, and appeared in a very shattered state, the enemy still held out; but a few hot shot setting fire to the bass, made them call for quarter. The number of men in the Tower were 33; only two were wounded, and those mortally.
Late in the previous year, the tower's French defenders had abandoned it after (32 guns) had fired two broadsides at it. The British removed the guns to arm a small vessel; consequently, the French were easily able to dislodge the garrison of Corsican patriots that had replaced them. Still, the British were impressed by the effectiveness of the tower when properly supplied and defended, and copied the design. But they got the name wrong, misspelling "Mortella" as "Martello" (which means "hammer" in Italian). When the British withdrew from Corsica in 1803, with great difficulty they blew up the tower, leaving it in an unusable state. The officer and men lived in separate rooms of almost equal size. A well or cistern within the fort supplied the garrison with water. An internal drainage system linked to the roof enabled rainwater to refill the cistern.
This is most clearly visible on the south and east coasts of England and the east coast of Ireland, where chains of Martello towers were built. Elsewhere in the world, individual Martello towers were erected to provide point defence of strategic locations.
England
thumb|An aerial view of the western of two Martello towers at Clacton-on-Sea
thumb|The eastern of two Martello towers at [[Clacton-on-Sea]]
Between 1804 and 1812 the British authorities built a chain of towers based on the original Mortella tower to defend the south and east coast of England, Ireland, Jersey and Guernsey to guard against possible invasion from France, then under the rule of Napoleon I. A total of 103 The northernmost tower at Aldeburgh is of quatrefoil design, i.e. four in one. There are two towers at Clacton-on-Sea, one near the town and the other to the west near the local golf course.
Included in the scheme were three much larger circular forts or redoubts that were constructed at Harwich, Dymchurch and Eastbourne; they acted as supply depots for the smaller towers as well as being powerful fortifications in their own right.
The effectiveness of Britain's Martello towers was never actually tested in combat against a Napoleonic invasion fleet. They were, however, effective in hindering smuggling. After the threat had passed, the Martello towers in England met a variety of fates. The Coastguard took over many to aid in the fight against smuggling.
Fifteen towers were demolished to enable the re-use of their masonry. The sea washed thirty away and the military destroyed four in experiments to test the effectiveness of the new rifled artillery. During the Second World War, some Martello towers returned to military service as observation platforms and firing platforms for anti-aircraft artillery.
Forty-seven Martello towers have survived in England, a few of which have been restored and transformed into museums (e.g., the towers at Point Clear and Seaford), visitor centres, and galleries (such as Jaywick Martello Tower). Some are privately owned or are private residences. The remainder are derelict. A survey of the East Coast towers in 2007 found that of the 17 remaining, most were in a reasonable condition.
Many remaining Martello towers are now listed buildings.
A fuller list of British towers, with photographs, is available.
thumb|upright=1.3|Martello Tower on [[Seaford, East Sussex|Seaford seafront in East Sussex, housing the Museum]]
Scotland
thumb|The [[Tally Toor, in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland.]]
Three Martello towers were built in Scotland, the first on offshore rocks facing the Firth of Forth in 1807–1809 to defend Leith Harbour. The Tally Toor now lies land-locked within the eastern breakwater.
Two towers were then built at Hackness and Crockness, near Longhope in Orkney. They were constructed between 1813 and 1815 to guard against the threat of French and American raiders attacking convoys assembling offshore. Historic Scotland now operates the Hackness tower as a museum.
Wales
A small number of Martello towers were also built in Wales, of which few survive. The most notable surviving towers are the two located in Pembroke Dock, which were built between 1848 and 1857 to protect the naval base there. Today, one of the towers is privately owned. The other is located on the town's riverfront, next to the old entrance of the naval base. It was converted into a small museum that focused on the local history of the dock and its defences. The museum has now shut down because of water influx. Recently Pembrokeshire County Council has decided to put the tower up for sale.
Ireland
thumb|Offshore Martello tower on [[Shenick Island, County Dublin]]
About fifty Martello towers were built around the Irish coastline, especially along the east coast, from Millmount (Drogheda), to Bray, around Dublin Bay (29 installations) but also around Cork Harbour on the south coast. On the east coast, concentrated mainly around Dublin Bay, twenty-six towers were in line of sight of each other, providing the ability to communicate with one another, or warn of any incoming attacks.
Possibly the most famous is the Martello tower in Sandycove, near Dún Laoghaire, in which James Joyce lived for a few days. Joyce shared the tower with Oliver St. John Gogarty, then a medical student but later to become famous in Irish history as a surgeon, politician and writer. In Ulysses, the fictional character Stephen Dedalus lives in the tower with a medical student, Malachi "Buck" Mulligan, whom Joyce based on Gogarty. The James Joyce Tower, as the tower is now known, houses a museum dedicated to Joyce.
A number of other Martello towers are extant nearby at Bullock Harbour, Dalkey Island, Williamstown, Seapoint and Sandymount and Martello towers feature in many literary works set in Dublin. During the 1980s, Bono owned the Martello tower in Bray, County Wicklow.
thumb|left|Martello tower (South No.7) at [[Killiney]]
Martello Tower South No.7, on Tara Hill, Killiney Bay, is unique, as is its location as an enfilading tower. The Tower is privately owned and has been fully restored, to include a proofed, working King George 3rd Blomefield 18-pounder cannon mounted on a traversing carriage on the crown of the Tower. There is a three-gun battery below the tower, with a glacis. There is also a coach house, artillery store, tool shed, and gunner's cottage, with resident gunner and gunpowder store. The battery, while restored, remains to be armed and the coach house and artillery store still require some restoration.
On the north side of Dublin, one can find Martello towers in Balbriggan, Shenick Island and Red Island at Skerries, Drumanagh Fort, Rush, Tower Bay in Portrane, Donabate, Malahide (Hicks tower owned by Tony Quinn), Portmarnock, Ireland's Eye, Howth, and Sutton.
There were seven Martello towers in the vicinity of Cork Harbour of which five are extant. During the 19th century Fenian uprising, the famous Captain Mackey briefly captured and held the Monning Martello tower near Fota Island in Cork Harbour; this tower is believed to have been the only Martello tower ever captured, other than the original. The other Cork Harbour towers are at Ringaskiddy, Haulbowline Island (now part of the Irish Naval Service HQ) and at Belvelly and Rossleague on the Great Island (near Cobh). There are also Martello towers at Little Island and Rostellan, though these are no longer intact.
The British built two Martello towers on the Hook Peninsula to protect the fort near Duncannon, County Wexford and the entrance to Waterford Harbour. There is a third tower on the headland at Baginbun Bay in County Wexford.
One of the most interesting Martello towers is Meelick Martello Tower at Clonahenoge, County Offaly, guarding the Shannon river crossing to Meelick, County Galway. As this tower supports three guns (unlike the normal Martello tower which is circular on plan and carries only one gun), it is cam shaped on plan. Currently a rampant growth of ivy covers the tower.
The tower at Seapoint, County Dublin, which was the property of Blackrock Urban District Council, was formerly the clubhouse of the Seapoint Boat Club from 1916 to 1931, and was subsequently the headquarters of the Genealogical Society of Ireland (GSI). The GSI vacated the tower when it found that the atmosphere was not conducive to the preservation of records.
The restored tower at Ilnacullin is a feature of an island garden in Glengarriff, County Cork. Several other towers are still extant, including one at Rathmullan in County Donegal and two in County Clare on the south coast of Galway Bay in the townlands of Finavarra and Aughinish. There is also an extant Martello tower located near the settlement of Magilligan Point in County Londonderry, built between 1812 and 1871 to defend against a possible French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars; it is now a visitor attraction.
A Martello-like tower was built on Achill Island, according to local memory during the Napoleonic Wars. It is square rather than round, unlike the traditional Martello tower. This tower is known locally as the Gabhla Fhranca ("French Tower") or the Napoleonic Tower. It is marked on an 1838 Ordnance Survey chart and denoted "Signal Tower", suggesting it was used with a series of other stations for communication. The tower's position offers a view of the sea both to the north and south of the island and is therefore well-suited for that purpose. By the 1830s the tower was described as a "watch-house of the coast-guard."
Elsewhere
Antigua and Barbuda
thumb|A 1953 stamp of Antigua showing the Martello Tower in Barbuda.
The British originally constructed River Fort Martello Tower in the early 19th century, on the site of a previous fort (presumed to have been built by the Spanish) to guard nearby River Landing, which was Barbuda's original quay. Confusion with the previous fort presumably explains the claims made in Barbudan tourism publications that this was the World's first, and is its oldest, Martello tower, built in 1745. The tower is located on the south coast of the island, a mile or so from River Landing and some seven miles south of the island's main village of Codrington. The tower is 56 feet high, has a raised gun platform and extremely thick walls, but is missing the floors. It the first such tower constructed in the Caribbean, was built in 1745 by Sir William Codrington, and was designed by Commodore Charles Knowles RN, later Admiral Sir Charles Knowles Bt, who was then commanding the Leeward Islands station.
It is attached to what remains of the pre-existing fort. The tower mounted three cannon, and in all the fort mounted ten cannons, none of which remain. The tower is the highest building on Barbuda and serves as a daymark from land or sea. Today the fort is a popular location for weddings.
Australia
thumb|left|[[Fort Denison, Sydney Harbour.]]
The last Martello tower built in the British Empire is said to be that which composes a part of the larger Fort Denison, built during the late 18th and early 19th centuries on Pinchgut Island, a small island in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales. It is the only Martello tower to have been built in Australia.
Fortification of the island began in 1841, but was not completed. The construction had begun following an 1839 night-time incursion into Sydney Harbour by two American warships. Concern with the threat of foreign attack had caused the government to review the harbour's inner defences, which were found to be inadequate, and the establishment of a fort was recommended to help protect Sydney Harbour from attack by foreign vessels. Construction resumed in 1855 to provide Sydney with protection against the threat of a naval attack by the Russians during the Crimean War of the 1850s. However, construction was completed only in 1857, well after the war had ended. Fort Denison is well preserved and is now a popular tourist attraction.
Bermuda
thumb| The Martello tower at [[Ferry Reach, Bermuda (1822) (background), contrasts with the Ferry Island Fort (1790s) (foreground).]]
There is a Martello tower located at Ferry Reach in St George's Parish, in the British Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda. The tower is the third fortification on the site. Major Thomas Blanshard built it of Bermuda limestone between 1822 and 1823. The tower shows the effect of thirty years of evolution on the design of coastal fortifications, between the 1790s and 1822. The earlier Ferry Island Fort nearby had multiple guns arrayed to cover the water westward, while the Martello tower used a single gun with 360° traverse to cover all of the surrounding area.
Like its predecessors in the UK, it has an ovoid footprint with the thickness of its walls ranging from . It is surrounded by a dry moat. The tower's purpose was to defend the Ferry Reach Channel and so impede any attack on St. George's Island from the main island of Bermuda, and attacking vessels from slipping through Castle Harbour and the channel between Ferry Reach and Coney Island. The main channel by which vessels reach most parts of Bermuda west of St. George's, including the Royal Naval Dockyard, on Ireland, the Great Sound, Hamilton Harbour, The Flatts, Murray's Anchorage, and other important sites, carries them around the east ends of St. David's and St. George's Islands, where the coastal artillery was always most heavily concentrated. Two more Martello towers to protect the Dockyard were planned, but never built.
The tower was restored in 2008 and an 18-pounder cannon brought from Fort St. Catherine was mounted on top. The site is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Friday in the summer and in the winter by appointment only, by calling the Parks Department. It is part of the Bermuda Railway Trail.
British Virgin Islands
thumb|[[Fort Recovery, Tortola|Fort Recovery, in the British Virgin Islands.]]
When the British rebuilt Fort Recovery on the west end of Tortola they added a Martello tower.
Canada
Nine of the fourteen Martello towers built in Canada still survive. (In addition, the existing fortifications at Fort Henry received two thin towers between 1845 and 1848. However, these are dry ditch defence towers, rather than true Martello towers.) A common characteristic of Canadian Martello towers was removable cone-shaped roofs to protect against snow. Today, many of the restored towers have permanent roof additions – for ease of upkeep, not historical accuracy.
thumb|left|Martello tower no. 1, Quebec City
Quebec City originally had four Martello towers. Tower No. 1 stands on the Plains of Abraham, overlooking the St Lawrence River. It has been restored as a museum and can be visited during the summer months. Tower no. 2 stands close nearby and currently hosts activities for private groups. Tower No. 3 was demolished in 1905 after being used as a residence. The McKenzie Memorial Building of Jeffery Hale Hospital now occupies the site. The fourth surviving Martello Tower in Quebec, No. 4, is located in a residential area on the north side of the Upper City overlooking Lower Town. It is now used as an escape game tourist activity by The National Battlefields Commission.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, had five towers, the oldest of which, the Prince of Wales Tower located in Point Pleasant Park, is the oldest Martello-style tower in North America. It was built in 1796 and was used as a redoubt and a powder magazine. Restored, it is now a National Heritage site. The Duke of York Martello Tower was built in 1798 at York Redoubt. Its lower level still stands, though it has been boarded up for conservation purposes. The Duke of Clarence Martello Tower stood on the Dartmouth shore. Sherbrooke Martello Tower stood opposite York Redoubt on McNabs Island; it was demolished in 1944 and replaced by a concrete lighthouse at Maughers Beach. Another Martello tower stood on Georges Island.
Four Martello towers were built at Kingston, Ontario to defend its harbour and naval shipyards in response to the Oregon Crisis. Their builders intended for the towers to serve as redoubts against marine attacks. Murney Tower and the tower at Point Frederick (at the Royal Military College of Canada) are now museums that are open during the summer.
thumb|right|Line of defence: three Martello towers [[Fort Frederick (Kingston)|Fort Frederick, Shoal Tower, and Cathcart Tower in Kingston, Ontario]]
Fort Frederick has the most elaborate defences as it includes earthen ramparts and a limestone curtain wall. The Shoal Tower, the only tower completely surrounded by water, stands in Kingston's Confederation Basin. Since 2005, it is open to the public as part of Doors Open Ontario for one day only in June each year. Cathcart Tower, the fourth tower, stands unused on Cedar Island near Point Henry.
Carleton Martello Tower, overlooking the harbour of Saint John, New Brunswick, is now a museum and a National Historic Site.
The Canadian Press reported on 16 April 2006 that the Canadian military has named a Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Afghanistan FOB Martello. The logo of the International Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum in Kingston, Ontario, features a Martello tower. Since the amalgamation of the Township of Kingston in 2000, the city's flag has also borne a Martello tower.
Guernsey
There are three similar Martello towers in Guernsey, all built in 1804: Fort Grey, Fort Hommet and Fort Saumarez.
In addition, there are a number of earlier towers in Guernsey (the Guernsey loophole towers), that many people refer to as Martello towers, though they are not Martellos. They were built in the late 18th century, i.e., before the Martellos, and differ from them in a number of ways. One may think of them as precursors,
India
alt=Portuguese Martello Tower at Arnala, India|thumb|Portuguese Martello tower at [[Arnala fort|Arnala, India]]
Although European in origin, a primitive form of Martello tower had existed in Punjab by the time it was conquered by the East India Company. There is a Martello Tower that the Portuguese built at the southern tip of the island where the Arnala fort stands. The Portuguese are said to have built many of these towers, but Arnala's is the best surviving specimen. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British erected Martello towers at the British Residency in Hyderabad, which were demolished in 1954. An earlier example of such is the one found in Pakur, a town in the state of Jharakhand. This tower was built in 1856 by Sub District Officer Sir Martin with view to protect the British Raj from the Santhals. It was an important position for the British forces watching fighting the rebellion of the Santhals. This example is reported to still be in good condition, but decaying due to a lack of maintenance.
Indonesia
The 1883 eruption of Krakatoa caused a tsunami that damaged Menara Martello, which the Dutch colonial government of the East Indies built in 1850 on Bidadari Island (Pulau Bidadari), one of the Thousand Islands (Kepulauan Seribu), as part of a set of fortifications built between 1850 and 1852 that protected the approaches to Batavia. Photos suggest that Martello Menara was not a true Martello, but rather a circular fort. The tower was operational until 1878, when it became a storage site, and was abandoned in 1908. Bidadari Island was also known as Pulau Sakit (Sick Island) as it housed a leper colony during the 17th century. More recently, the island came to be called "Angel Island", to honour the leprosarium that had been there.
Other towers were built at Onrust, Kuiper (Cipir), and Kerkhof (Kelor) islands. All four were demolished in part or in whole after the advent of rifled guns made them obsolete.
Italy
thumb|Magnisi tower at Priolo Gargallo.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, during the British "Protectorate" of Sicily after the escape of the Bourbons from Naples, Sicily began to build towers to resist an invasion by Napoleon's armies led by Joachim Murat. The new higher rate of fire of ships' guns led to the choice of the Martello tower as the model.
The Sicilian Martello towers were built around 1810. The estimate rests on the historical context and on the descriptions of the topographer W.H. Smyth, who carried out his research in 1814 and 1815.
Of the seven towers built in Sicily, only four remain. One is the Mazzone Tower (or the British Fort) at Faro Point, Messina. The second is the Magnisi tower at Priolo Gargallo, Syracuse. The Italian Navy used this tower as an observation post during the Second World War. Third is the Cariddi tower at Ganzirri in Messina. Lastly, the fourth tower is situated on a rocky outcrop overlooking the sea from where it can defend the Castello Maniace in Syracuse.
Jamaica
There is a Martello tower located at what was Fort Nugent. In 1709, the Spanish slave agent in Jamaica, James Castillo, built a fort in Harbour View, to guard his home against attack. An English Governor, George Nugent, later strengthened the fort to guard the eastern entrance of the city of Kingston Harbour. The tower was probably built between 1808 and 1811,
The four surviving, later towers are:
Mauritius
The British built five Martello Towers between 1832 and 1835 at Grand River North West (2), Black River (2), and Port Louis (1), of which three survive.
One tower, named Cunningham Tower after Lieutenant-Colonel Cunningham, the commanding Royal Engineer, was constructed as part of Fort George at the northern side of the entrance to Port Louis harbour. Two towers were built at Grand River North West; on the south-west side of the river bay the tower was built at Pointe aux Sables whilst Fort Victoria was built covering the north-eastern flank. The remaining two were built to support existing batteries, which were also improved, at the mouth of the Black River; one to the north at La Preneuse and the other south of Grande-Rivière-Noire at Batterie de l'Harmonie. Cunningham Tower disappeared after 1914. The Tower at Fort Victoria was last mentioned in 1880. In 1865, the Mauritius Almanac and Civil Service Register listed "Two Artillery Men, at 1s each per diem", for the towers at Fort George and Grand River. The Friends of the Environment have restored one Martello tower near the La Preneuse public beach, in the Rive Noire/Black River district. The Friends operate it as a museum for visitors. The original entrance to the tower is raised above ground but a new entrance has been constructed at ground level. The other tower in Rive Noire/Black River district [L'Harmonie] still exists but has remained neglected for many years. The other existing tower is at Pointe aux Sables, Grand River North West.
thumb|Canon on Martello tower in La Preneuse, Black River, Mauritius
Sierra Leone
A Martello tower was built on Tower Hill at Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1805 to defend the port from attacks by the Temne people. It was significantly modified in 1870 when it was truncated to allow the installation of a water tank to supply Government House (Fort Thornton) with water. The tower has now been incorporated into Sierra Leone's Parliament Buildings.
South Africa
thumb|Martello tower at Fort Beaufort
The British built three Martello towers in South Africa, one at Simon's Town Naval base near Cape Town, one at Cape Town, and the third at Fort Beaufort. The tower at Simon's Town and Cape Town were both built in 1795. The tower at Cape Town was demolished over 100 years ago, but the tower at Simon's Town now is sometimes claimed as the oldest Martello in the world. It is arguable as to whether one should properly call it a Martello Tower.
That said, Vice Admiral George Elphinstone, who commanded the force that captured the colony and then served briefly as its governor, had served with the Mediterranean fleet off Corsica in 1794. In 1781, Captain Francisco Fernandez de Angulo had built towers south of Port Mahon at Punta Prima and Alcufar, based on the design of those that the Spanish had built in Gando, Gran Canaria, in 1740. At Ciutadella the British used the St. Nicholas's Tower, built in 1690. The Treaty of Amiens returned Menorca to Spain in 1802. Around 1804, the Spanish built a tower at Punta Na Radona to protect the beach at Son Bou, Menorca. In 1808, Captain Lord Cochrane, commanding the 38-gun fifth-rate frigate , sent ashore a landing party that destroyed the unarmed tower. (Frederick Marryat, later a naval captain and author, was serving as a midshipman aboard Imperieuse at the time.)
This fort has 17 walls.
There are also four towers on the island of Formentera, and one on the nearby island of S'Empalmador ().
thumb|Martello tower at Castle of San Julian, Cartagena de LevanteAnother tower was erected by English troops stationed in the fortress of Cartagena, during the Peninsular War. The tower was erected in the center of the 1799 fort, in mount St. Julian, dominating port and mouth. In the summer of 1812 English engineers destroyed the fort and erected a tower:
The later constructions that gave rise to the present fortress of San Julián is still in good condition and is used as a base for telephone aerials and antennas. The interior, which is only accessible to technicians, is supposedly well preserved.
Saint Helena
There is a Martello tower at Saint Helena that was incorporated into High Knoll Fort. The tower was very similar in design to the tower at Simon's Town, with a diameter of about and a height of approximately . This tower may have been involved in repelling a French attack though there is nothing more than circumstantial support for the notion. British engineers commenced work on three towers to protect Trincomalee but never completed them.
thumb|41st Infantry Coat of arms with a Martello Tower
Although the Americans copied the design from the towers the British erected in Canada, the American Martello towers differed in some significant respects from the British. The Martello tower built at Tybee Island, Georgia was constructed around 1815 utilising wood and tabby concrete, a common local building material at the time, instead of the brick or stone that the British towers used. Also, unlike the British towers, the Tybee tower featured gun loops on the garrison floor that enabled muskets to be fired through the walls.
List of Martello towers outside Great Britain
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Country
!Location
!Tower name
!Built
!Current status
|-
| Australia
| Sydney
| Fort Denison
| 1856
| Museum, harbour light station
|-
| Barbuda
| Near Palmetto Point
| River Fort Martello Tower
|
|
|-
| Bermuda
| Ferry Reach
|
| 1823–1828
| Can be visited
|-
| British Virgin Islands
| Tortola
| Fort Recovery
|
| Private (hotel)
|-
| Canada
| Point Pleasant Park, Nova Scotia
| Prince of Wales's Tower
| 1796
| Open to the public
|-
| Canada
| Halifax, Nova Scotia
| Duke of York's Tower
| c.1798
| Lower levels still exist. Site partially boarded off, can be visited
|-
| Canada
| Halifax, Nova Scotia
| Duke of Clarence's Tower
| c.1798
| Demolished prior to 1900
|-
| Canada
| Kingston, Ontario
| Fort Frederick
| 1846/07
| Museum
|-
| Canada
| Kingston, Ontario
| Murney Tower
| 1846
| Museum
|-
| Canada
| Kingston, Ontario
| Shoal Tower
| 1846
| Closed to the public
|-
| Canada
| Kingston, Ontario
| Cathcart Tower
| 1846
| Closed to the public
|-
| Canada
| Quebec City, Quebec
| Tower #1
| 1808–1812
| Museum
|-
| Canada
|Quebec City, Quebec
| Tower #2
| 1808–1812
| Open for group activities through National Battlefields Commission
|-
| Canada
|Quebec City, Quebec
| Tower #3
| 1808–1812
| Destroyed
|-
| Canada
|Quebec City, Quebec
| Tower #4
| 1808–1812
| Tourist activity - Escape game
|-
| Canada
| Saint John, New Brunswick
| Carleton Martello Tower
| 1815
| Museum
|-
| Croatia
| Korčula
| Forteca Korčula (Fort Wellington)
| 1813
| Deserted, accessible to hikers
|-
|India
|Arnala Island
|Hanumant Bastion
|c. 1530s
|Deserted and dilapidated
|-
| Ireland
| Achill Island
| Gabhla Fhranca
|c. 1803–1815
| Partially collapsed but accessible to hikers
|-
| Ireland
| Aughinish
| Aughinish Tower
| 1811
| Private residence
|-
| Ireland
| Banagher
| Meelick Martello Tower
|
| Private residence
|-
| Ireland
| Drogheda
| Millmount Fort
| c. 1808
| Extant
|-
| Ireland
| Balbriggan
|North No. 12
| 1804–05
| Extant
|-
| Ireland
| Skerries, Red Island
| North No. 11
| 1804–05
| Private residence
|-
| Ireland
| Bray beach
| South No. 1
| 1804–05
| Demolished in 1884, when the Esplanade was constructed
|-
| Malta
| Madliena, Pembroke
| Madliena Tower
| 1658
| Intact, recently restored
|-
| Mauritius
| Grand River North West
| Pointe aux Sables
| 1832–35
| Abandoned but no fences, entrance still on second storey
|-
| Mauritius
|Grand River North West
|Fort Victoria
|1832–35
|Last mentioned 1880
|-
| Mauritius
| Grande-Rivière-Noire
|L'Harmonie
|1832–35
| Ruined (now a national monument)
|-
| Mauritius
| Black River
|La Preneuse
| 1832–35
| Museum
|-
| Mauritius
|Fort George, Port Louis
|Cunningham Tower
|1832–35
|Disappeared after 1914
|-
| Sierra Leone
| Freetown
| Tower Hill Martello Tower
| 1805
| Part of Parliament Buildings
|-
| South Africa
| Fort Beaufort
|
| 1839–46
|
|-
| South Africa
| Simon's Town
|
| 1795/06
| At the Naval Base. Houses a small museum.
|-
| South Africa
| Cape Town
| Craig's Tower
| 1795/06
| Demolished late 19th century
|-
| Sri Lanka
| Hambantota
|
| 1801–03
|
|-
| Trinidad and Tobago
| Port of Spain
| Fort Picton
| 1801
| Abandoned by 1810
|-
| United States
| Lake Borgne, Louisiana
| Tower Dupre
| 1830?
| Hexagonal; originally built on the shore, from the water, near Bayou Dupre's entrance to Lake Borgne; for much of the twentieth century was a private fishing camp; photo at Wikimedia Commons; destroyed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina
|-
| United States
| Charleston, South Carolina
|Fort Johnson
|
|
|-
| United States
| Key West, Florida
|
|
| East tower is a museum; west tower converted to a botanical garden; both open to the public
|-
| United States
| New York Harbor
|
|
| Destroyed
|-
| United States
| Portsmouth, New Hampshire
| Walbach Tower
| 1814
| Incorporated into Fort Constitution; ruined
|-
| United States
| Tybee Island, Georgia
|
| 1815
| It served as an office of the Georgia Telegraph and Telephone Company and finally as the post office for Fort Screven. In 1913, the building was damaged in a fire and it was finally dismantled the following year to clear the field of fire for the guns of Fort Screven.
|}
See also
- Blockhouse
- Fortified tower
Lists:
- List of castles
- List of fortifications
- List of forts
Notes
Citations
References
- Abram, David (2003) The Rough Guide to Corsica Rough Guides.
- Bolton, J., Carey, T., Goodbody, R. & Clabby, G. (2012) The Martello Towers of Dublin. (Dublin: Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown & Fingal County Council).
- Brock, B.B. & Brock, B.G. (1976) Historical Simon's Town. (Cape Town).
- Ciucevich, Robert A. (2005) Tybee Island: The Long Branch of the South (Arcadia Publishing).
- Clements, William H. (1998) Towers of Strength: Story of Martello Towers. (London: Pen & Sword). .
- Grimsley, E.J. (1988) The Historical Development of the Martello Tower in the Channel Islands. (Sarnian Publications).
- Rooke, Octavius (1857) The Channel islands: pictorial, legendary and descriptive.
- Saunders, Ivan J. (1976) "A History of the Martello Towers in the Defence of British North America, 1796–1871", Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History #15, National Historic Parks and Sites Branch, Thorn Press Limited.
- Sutcliffe, Sheila (1973) Martello Towers. (Cranbury, NJ: Associated Universities Press).
- Vigano, M. (2001) Fort (Fortress Study Group) 29.
External links
- Martello Towers Encyclopedia
- Martello Tower No.24 in Dymchurch, Kent
- YouTube video showing a 3D reconstruction of a Martello tower
- English Heritage Report into Martello Towers on the East Coast of England
- Location list and explanatory article of most Martello towers in the UK, with pictures
- Restoration of No.7 Tower, Killiney Bay
- Interactive Google Map of Killiney Bay defences
- Carleton Martello Tower National Historic Site of Canada
- English Heritage Martello towers definition and description
- The Dymchurch tower: English Heritage
- James Joyce Tower, Dun Laoghaire
- – pictures of the original tower at Mortella
- Mortella Point (Punta Mortella) in Corsica – the ancestor of Martello towers all over the world
- Restoration of an Irish Martello tower The Genie Gazette, Newsletter of the Genealogical Society of Ireland: Seapoint Martello Tower, County Dublin
- Eastbourne Redoubt Fortress Military Museum