Martello Towers
During the Napoleonic Wars with France
the eastern coast of England was considered under threat of
invasion by France so defensive strong points were erected by
the Royal Engineers at key points of the coastline.
These were erected mainly on the Northern
Essex coast as the Central coastal area was marshy with many
inlets and not suitable for landings while the southern part was
protected by forts on the Thames.
One of the favourite buildings was the
martello tower which were erected all along the east coast with
eleven on the Essex coastline.
Towers were erected at St Osyth Stone,
Beacon Hill St Osyth, St Osyth Beach, East ness
Great Clacton, Clacton Wash, Clacton Cliffs, Holland Haven,
Holland Marsh, Battery Point Frinton on Sea, Walton on the Naze
Cliffs and Walton on the Naze backwaters.
The towers has a circular design to give
good defence and have no blind spots. They were mounted with
three cannon and contained living quarters, armoury, heating
chamber and sufficient supplies of food, water and arms to
resist an attack for lengthy periods.
Photo
courtesy of Steve
Muster
In times of lower tension the towers were
garrisoned by a enough men to provide a 24 hour lookout with the
reserve in barracks inland allowing the ability to quickly
garrison the towers in the event of a French threat being
sighted.
The towers would be manned by both
artillery to operate the three gun battery and infantry to use
muskets and rifles for closer action fighting.
Many regiments were stationed at Weeley
Barracks to both garrison the Martello towers and provide an
immediate resistance should the French invade but there is no
record of either Essex Regiment(44thEast Essex and 56th West
Essex) being stationed there.
The East Essex Militia certainly served
at Weeley and no doubt manned the towers in peace time.
Essex and Suffolk surnames have some
interesting material on Weeley Camp.
Click here to visit this site.
A posting to a martello tower was very
unpopular as many were in marshy areas which were associated
with diseases.
By the time that the Towers were erected
the crushing victory at Trafalgar had reduced the likelihood of
invasion and so reduced their importance in national defence.
In the First World War some of the towers
were taken back into defensive service as sites for
airship/plane lookouts and as a base for the 8th Essex(Cyclists)
battalion who were responsible for defence of the coast.
A few were even pressed into service
during World War Two.
Six of the towers remain and two are open
to the public.
Jaywick Tower is run as an arts centre
but is open for visits.
Click here
for details
St Osyth Tower at Point Clear is an
aviation museum.
Click here
for details.
Towers at the Parade, Walton on the Naze,
Marine Parade, Hastings Avenue and the Sea Wall, Clacton on Sea
can be seen from the outside but are not open to the public.
