Martello Towers

Martello towers are a very unique type of defensive structure adopted by the British in 1804. The British encountered these towers when the attacked the French cape of Martello. The British military were so impressed with these structures that they were soon being built all around the Irish and English coasts.

These structures featured their own water reservoir and the walls were nearly eight-feet thick. The inside was separated into three storeys. The ground floor was used for the storage of ammunition, food products and equipment. The first floor was the living quarters for the 20 or so men living there. On the top floor a 24-pound cannon was placed on a circularly traversing carriage, this was top ensure the cannon could be fired in all directions.

 Diagram of a Martello Tower

There was a battlement of four-feet from which fire-arms could be fired. There were also larger holes in which a carronade could be fired. A carronade is an extremely deadly close-range weapon which shot musket balls, grapeshot, lengths of chain and scrap metal at the very unfortunate attackers.

An interesting structural feature of the Martello towers was that their floors were constructed with wooden nails as metal nail were known to cause sparks and start a fire.

Nowadays these structural wonders are very rare and the few remaining can only be found around Ireland and England, and of course in Sydney Harbour.