If you walk along the Kent and East Sussex coastline, you may occasionally come across some squat grey towers that rise out of the ground like upturned flower pots. Both the name and appearance are alien to their position along the coast of East Sussex and Kent.
Author Sir Walter Scott once said, ‘Martello Towers were built for the sole purpose of puzzling posterity.’
Since then, Martello towers have been intriguing generations of visitors and residents, giving little away, except perhaps for their military origin.
The inspiration for these towers was a fort in the Bay of Mortella in Corsica. During the war with France in 1794, the British Fleet sailed into the Gulf of San Fiorinzo and prepared to take the island. Crucial to the British attack was the capture of the stone watchtower on Mortella Point.
Not only did it withstand bombardment from two ships, it had its own armaments. The ships withdrew after sustaining serious damage and 60 casualties. But the stone tower impressed officers, who suggested constructing similar defences along the South Coast of England to repel any invasion by Napoleon’s forces.
The mispronunciation of Mortella by the British gave rise to the name Martello.
Between 1805 and 1808, the Royal Engineers supervised the building of 74 towers along the coast of East Sussex and Kent. The aim was to protect important installations and vulnerable stretches of coastline where the enemy could land.
By 1812, Suffolk and Essex had built another 29 towers.
The design of the towers was simple, with the seaward walls thicker than those to landward. Access was by a removable ladder through a single entrance door at first-floor level, 20 feet above the ground. The defenders could pull the ladder inside to thwart the enemy in the event of an attack. The only windows were small and high, facing inland.
The positioning of the towers meant that the fire from the cannons on the roof would cross, providing total cover. If the enemy broke through and landed, the towers could withstand a siege until reinforcements arrived.
The garrison of each tower comprised twenty or thirty men and one officer. The tower contained two stories, the lower one for ammunition and provisions and the upper for the living quarters.
As a further defence, many towers had dry moats, 40ft wide and 15-20ft deep. The sides of the moats were steep and formed from brickwork. In the case of the Martello at Seaford, a drawbridge was used to cross the moat. In times of siege, the drawbridge could be raised as an extra defence.
Of the 47 towers built in East Sussex, only 10 survive today. The military used some towers for target practice, while others were demolished or perished at the hands of the sea. Those still standing stretch from Rye in the east to Seaford in the west.
The five that run through Pevensey Bay to the Crumbles in Eastbourne are good examples. The marine artist, Val Princeps, painted views of the sea from the tower on the Martello housing estate. At different times, people have used others as private residences.
The Wish Tower on Eastbourne seafront took its name from the nearby Wish – or Wash – a marshy area of land which is now Devonshire Park. The name stuck when young couples took to writing their names on the wall and making a wish.
After World War II, the tower was due to be demolished to make way for a sun lounge and cafe. Fortunately, after a local outcry, the tower was declared an Ancient Monument and restored by the Borough Council in 1959.
Ironically, construction of the towers began after Napoleon’s threat of invasion had vanished. Though never tested in battle, the towers remain as a unique example of military architecture.
