Martello Tower

Martello towers are a series of fortified towers constructed along the eastern and southern coastlines of England between 1804 and 1812 as a coastal defence against Napoleon’s threatened invasion. The towers, which take their name from a tower at Cap Mortella (Corsica) captured by the British in 1794, are commonly circular in construction and in their earlier usage would have been topped by a heavy cannon. Many still exist along England’s coastline although they are rarely open today to the public.

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