Kent points of Interest

Tower 1 stands 200 feet up on the cliffs above East Wear Bay, Folkestone, within sight of Towers 2 and 3 below, all of which could have benefitted from the addition of moats. It was quite possibly used by the Coast Blockade and Coast Guard, but was described as unoccupied and missing its outer skin of brickwork as early as 1870. By the 1970's Folkestone Corporation had bought the tower and begun repair work. By the 1990's, the stucco cement rendering had been replaced with one of brick, and with a ground-level door and extra windows added at both floor levels, the tower became a residence.

• 1806 1806 Built of brick.
• 1964 Field Investigation.
• By: 1970's Purchased by the Folkestone Corporation.
• 20th C Turned into a house.

Tower 2 is about 50 feet lower than No.1, and sited on a small knoll slightly further inland, where Wear Bay Road is now situated. The tower was purchased from Folkestone Corporation in 1964, converted into a house, with a swimming pool on the roof. This has been replaced with a full roof, similar to that on Tower 8. Extra windows have been added and the exterior coated with a coloured lime rendering. Surrounded by tall trees and situated up a private track, the tower is really only visible from a high position, such as the roof of Tower 3. The tower is a private residence.

• 1806 Built to plans by Colonal Twiss and Captain Ford with two storeys and a flat roof.
• 1964 Field Investigation. Purchased by the Folkestone Corporation.
• 20th C Turned into a house.

Tower 3 stands on the cliffs above Copt Point and overlooks the harbour below. From the 1850's, the tower was home to a number of Coast Guards and their families. In1990 was purchased by Shepway District Council and later opened as the Martello Tower Visitor Centre. During renovation work in 1990, workmen clearing debris from the ground floor found a ramp sloping down into the foundations, leading into a pool of water, which was a natural source of water for the garrison.

• 1806 Built.
• 1850's Occupied by families of coastguards.
• 1890-1900 Owned and lived in by the Finn family.
• 1830 Painted in a landscape, by Turner.
• 1934 Word GOLF on the tower was considered an eyesore.
• 1940 Room added on roof and used as an Observation Post.
• 1943 Platform built on the Observation Post.
• 1964 Field Investigation.
• 1990 Visitor Centre opened by Shepway District Council and called the Martello Tower Visitor Centre.

Tower 4, along with its neighbours up to No.9, were all built into deep dry moats, and were situated within the Shorncliffe Camp area, up on the heights overlooking the coastline. The moat wall was built of stone, the moat itself having been half filled-in by 1948.

The tower was fitted with a large slate water tank, and became one of the towers, along with Nos. 27, 31 and 55 to have semaphore signalling apparatus to send messages installed beside it by 1820.

It was occupied by the Royal Observer Corps during World War Two, but does not appear to have been used since. The tower currently stands derelict covered in a thick layer of ivy in the garden of a private house. The brickwork appears to be in poor condition, although standing in its moat, covered in vegetation, very little of the tower can be seen.

• PRIVATE PROPERTY
• Water tank on ground floor. 1806
• Built of brick and surrounded by a dry moat and outer glacis. Measuring 42.6ft in diameter and standing 32.8ft.
• 1820
• Fitted with a Semaphore machine.
• 1939-1945
• Gun post on roof. Occupied by the Royal Observer Corps.
• 1939-1945
• Gun post on roof. Occupied by the Royal Observer Corps.
• 1948
• Moat mostly filled in and used as a garden.
• 1964
• Field Investigation
• 2000
• Scheduled

Martello Tower 5

Tower 5 stands high up, in line with Sandgate Castle, the keep of which was upgraded to save building Martellos on the lower level. The tower stands in the grounds of a secondary school and in 1934, plans were made to convert it into a chapel, but no work was actually done. In 1870, the original 24-pounder smooth-bore gun was still mounted, and it was recommended that it be re-armed with a medium gun. It currently stands derelict in its moat, with its doors and windows sealed up.

• Martello Tower, dry moat, glacis, revetment. Scheduled Monument. Monument Number 465774.
• Ditch used as a garden. Has two magazine compartments on the ground floor.
• 1805-1806
• Built of brick and measuring 42.6ft in diameter and standing 32.8ft high, with a moat.
• 1870
• Still held the original 24 pounder, smooth bore gun.
• 1934
• Was to be turned into a chapel, but it never was.
• 1961
• Scheduled.
• 1964
• Field Investigation.
• 1970's
• In the grounds of a Girls School.
• 1999
• Scheduled.
• 21st C Beginning:
• Derelict and on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register.

Martello Tower 6

Tower 6 stands on the outskirts of Shorncliffe Camp, and was built just after the completion of the original barracks there. The tower stood near the camp officers' mess, which appears to have since disappeared. - The tower was reportedly in an unaltered state in 1948, although long abandoned since. The tower may have been manned during World War Two, as a small pillbox was built a short distance away to the east, at the top of the slope that leads down to a lower level. Today it actually stands outside the perimeter fence of Shorncliffe Camp, and can be accessed via a public footpath. With the door bricked up, the stucco gone, exposing the brickwork and the moat overgrown with trees and vegetation, the tower is in a state of neglect. It stands derelict and has probably not been used since the war.

• Martello Tower, moat. Scheduled Monument. Monument Number 465777.
• The ditch is covered in trees and overgrown vegitation.
• 1805-1806
• Built with walls 5.5ft thick, magazine on the ground floor, the second floor divided into two and held the garrison.
• 19th C Late:
• Refurbished.
• 1948
• Intact.
• 1964
• Field Investigation.
• 1999
• Scheduled.
• 21st C Beginning:
• On the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register.

Martello Tower 7

Tower 7 was used as military stores for a number of years and was said in the 1970's to still have its original wooden floor, but the condition in which the tower has been for some years, having no window covering, has probably caused severe decay by now. The tower stands by the footpath that leads from Tower 6, and is surrounded by very dense vegetation, making it hard to find. - Like Tower 6, it too is now outside the perimeter fence of the camp, and similarly stands dilapidated in an overgrown moat.

• 1805-1806
• Built as a circular tower with walls measuring 5.5ft thick anda bridge across the moat. The magazine was on the ground floor and the garrison lived on the second floor.
• 19th C
• Refurbished and the magazine expanded.
• 1964
• Field Investigation.
• 1970's
• Possibly still had the original wooden floor.
• 1999
• Scheduled.
• 21st Beginning:
• Derelict with the door bricked up and the moat overgrown. On the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register.

Martello Tower 8

Tower 8 is yet another tower which stands just outside the perimeter of Shorncliffe Camp, although further away than Towers 6 and 7. It stood derelict in its moat and bricked up for many years, even being half buried up to its door level to provide easier access until the 1980's. It has since been dug out and converted into a house, with a garden laid out in the moat. It has a new roof with windows built onto the parapet, and a wooden walkway to the door, built in a similar fashion to the original drawbridge across the moat. It bears an '8' as a house number.

• Moated Martello Tower. Monument Number 463857.
• 1805
• Built as a circular tower with walls measuring 5.5ft thick and surrounded by a moat.
• 1960's
• Derelict and bricked up.
• 1964
• Field Investigation.
• 1999
• De-scheduled.
• 20th C Late:
• Grounds landscaped.

Martello Tower 9

• Moated Martello Tower, revetment. Scheduled Monument.
• On the south west edge of Shornecliffe Camp.
• 1805-1806
• Built with walls measuring 5.5ft thick. The magazine was on the gorund floor and the second floor was divided into two rooms and held the garrison, the gun emplacement was on the roof. The moat was lined with ashlar.
• 1964
• Field Investigation.
• 1970's
• Ditch in good condition.
• 1999
• Scheduled
• 21st C Beginning:
• Derelict and on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register.

Martello Tower 10

• Hythe Promenade: Martello Tower 10 was sited near near where the Imperial Hotel now stands.
• Stood near the Imperial Hotel.
• 1805
• Built
• 19th C
• Demolished when Promenade was constructed.

Martello Tower 11

• Tower 11, like towers 10 and 12, was demolished to make way for the promenade in the 19th century. It stood near where Saltwood Gardens is today.
• Post Medieval Martello Tower. Monument Number 463966.
• Stood near Saltwood Gardens.
• 1805
• Built.
• 19th C
• Demolished when Promenade was constructed.
• 1963
• Field Investigation.

Martello Tower 12

• Martello Tower 12
• Stood near Saltwood Gardens.
• 1805
• Built
• 19th C
• Demolished when Promenade was constructed.
• 1963
• Field Investigation.

Tower 13 stands on Hythe seafront in Western Parade and somehow survived the building of the promenade. The War Department sold it in 1906, and in 1928 it became a residence, bought by A.J. Glock, a builder from Streatham. Alterations were carried out and the tower named 'Place Forte'.

It was sold again in 1937, to an Edgar Wheeler, and in 1940 was used as an observation post to direct the cross-Channel shelling operations. It was sold yet again in 1960 to an architect, Ronald Ward, and used as a residence once more. Further conversions were carried out, notably the addition of large windows and the removal of internal brickwork to form cupboards. The walls were also made thinner to increase floorspace, and a viewing platform and extra room added to the roof.

Such alterations were permissible at that time, but are unlikely to be allowed to be carried out on a scheduled ancient monument today. The large number of windows looks incongruous for a Martello Tower, but doubtless admits far more natural light than the orignal narrow embrasures. The tower was renamed 'The Martello Tower', and mounted an original 24-pounder cannon outside, although this now appears to have been moved elsewhere.

• PRIVATE PROPERTY.

• 1805

• Built.

• 1906

• Sold by the War Department.

• 1928

• Used as a private house converted by A. J. Glock.

• 1937

• Sold to Edgar Wheeler.

• 1940

• Requisitioned and used as an Observation Post.

• 1960

• Sold to Ronald Ward, architect, who converted it back into a house.

• 1962

• 1962 Field Investigation.

• 21st C

• Beginning: Private house.

Martello Tower 14

PRIVATE PROPERTY

• 1806
• Built with two storeys, three levels, and a flat roof, measuring 42.6ft in diameter externally and standing 32.8ft high.
• 1963
• Field Investigation.
• 1999
• Scheduled.
• 21st C Beginning:
• MOD property with the windows bricked up and on the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register.

Martello Tower 15

Also on the Hythe Ranges with Tower 14, Tower 15 had a 'D' painted on it, although this appears to have worn off. Fort Sutherland originally stood between 15 and Tower 16. Standing further into the range danger area than Tower 14, the tower appears to be in a similar condition to its neighbour. The upper half of the brickwork is exposed where the outer skin of yellow brick has fallen off, although the general condition is reasonable. The tower is currently empty, and the importance of the Hythe Ranges to the Ministry of Defence means that access and public use of Towers 14 and 15 is highly unlikely in the foreseeable future.

• Post Medieval Martello Tower. Scheduled Monument. Monument Number 463960. Grade II LIsted Building.

• PRIVATE PROPERTY

• 1806

• Built with two storeys, three levels, and a flat roof, measuring 42.6ft in diameter externally and standing 32.8ft high.

• 1963

• Field Investigation.

• 1999

• Scheduled.

• 21st C Beginning:

• On the English Heritage Buildings at Risk Register.

Tower 16, being part of the low-level towers stretching across the beach at Hythe, and together with Tower 15 bolstered the defence of Fort Sutherland, a six-gun battery that stood between them. The tower had been undermined by the sea in autumn 1938, with seaward side collapsing onto the beach in large pieces and the remains washed away gradually over the years.

• 1805
• Built.
• 1938
• Eroded by the sea
• 1963
• Field Investigation.
• 21st C Beginning:
• Only small pieces of walling remain due to coastal erosion.

Standing on the low-level beach at Hythe, Tower 17 is probably that which was mentioned in the Times of February 1899:

The Martello tower near the Grand Redoubt at Dymchurch has been split in two by the action of the sea sucking away the shingle from the base.

The crumbling ruins with towers 18, 19, 20 and 21 behind, was printed in 'The Navy and Army Illustrated' in 1903. The Tower stood on 'E' Range, and was painted with a letter denoting this.

• 1805
• Built.
• 1939 Before:
• Destroyed through sea erosion.
• 1962
• Field Investigation.
• 21st C Beginning:
• Very few remains.

Tower 18 was undermined and washed away sometime after Tower 17, but before the Second World War. A photograph of Tower 17 collapsing with Towers 18-21 details printed in 'The Navy and Army Illustrated' in 1903. As with Towers 16 and 17, the remains were said to still be visible during the 1970's, although as public access to the area is strictly denied, any surviving remains cannot be visited.

• 1805
• Built.
• 1939 Before:
• Eroded by the sea.
• 1962
• Field Investigation.
• 21st C Beginning:
• Very few visible remains.

Tower 19 once had an 'N' painted on it, denoting the range it was situated on. Unfortunately, it can no longer really be classed as standing, as its highest point is roughly 15 feet above the ground.

Fort Moncrief, a six-gun battery, was situated forward of and between Towers 18 and 19, but by 1873 had been encroached upon by the sea. Although its barrack buildings were intact, the parapet had been ruined.

At the same time, Tower 19 was predicted to have a "long existence" because it was protected from encroachment of the sea due to the ruins of the fort's parapet on the beach.

The tower was described by Commander Mead in 1948 as being on a slight rise in the beach, many of its neighbours having been washed away by this time. The tide eventually claimed Tower 19 in about 1975, and the majority of the masonry now lies in large masses on the beach in front of the base which still stands. It appears that some deliberate dismantling has taken place, possibly following intial collapse, as the brickwork is far too neatly cut off around the top of standing walls.

• 1806
• Built with two storeys and a central column and the walls measuring 5.5ft thick.
• 1962
• Field Investigation.
• 1975 C;
• Damaged by the sea.
• 21st C Beginning:
• Northern half remains and the rest is damaged through sea erosion.

Tower 20's position was described as being "critical" in 1873, and it is believed that it was washed away during the early part of the century. A photograph published in 1903 , shows the sea encroaching towards the line of towers.

• 1805
• Built.
• 1873
• Very bad state.
• 1962
• Field Investigation.
• 20th C Early:
• Collapsed.
• 21st C Beginning:
• No remains.

The immediate neighbour of the Dymchurch Redoubt, Tower 21 was the last in the line of the low-level towers, most of which were lost to the sea. As with Tower 20, the tower was described as being in a critical position in 1873, and believed to have been washed away in the early 20th century.

• 1805
• Built.
• 1873
• Very bad condition.
• 1962
• Field Investigation.
• 20th C Early:
• Collapsed and washed away by the sea.
• 21st C Beginning:
• No remains.

Tower 22 was built as a twin to Tower 23, and their purpose was to defend the Willop Sluice in Hythe Road, Dymchurch, in order to allow the sluice to be opened and flood the area if necessary.

Sandwiched between the sea wall and a road, Tower 22 was the second most recent south coast Martello to be lost; it was destroyed in 1956, in an era before Martellos were regarded as ancient monuments.

Kent County Council ordered its destruction to make way for road widening, and, despite being in poor condition, proved so resistant to conventional demolition methods, that after several days of failure the Army was called in to use explosives. Even then, problems were experienced. After the smoke cleared from the explosion, it was found that the tower still stood. It took several explosions to finish Tower 22 off.

• 1805
• Built.
• 1956
• Demolished for road.
• 1962
• Field Investigation.

Tower 23 was built to support Tower 22 in guarding Willop Sluice and was said by Commander Hilary Mead in 1948 to have the appearance of the garrison having marched out a few weeks earlier. Mead also photographed the original 24-pounder cannon lying on the firing step on the roof. The interior condition was such that Tower 23 was used as a guide when the restoration of Tower 24 was in progress. Tower 23 was itself restored externally in the early 1970's at a cost of £4,500. A ground-level door was knocked through the seaward wall, and by the 1990's the tower was being lived in.

• Tower 23 has a new roof extension and was put up for sale for £850,000 in 2004.

• Grade II Listed Building.

• 1806

• Built measuring 30ft high with walls 5.5ft thick. A magazine was on the ground floor with two rooms above it.

• 1948

• Good condition.

• 1962

• Field Investigation.

• 1970's Early:

• Externally restored at a cost of approximately £4,500.

• 1970

• Scheduled.

• 1990's

• Lived in.

• 2004

• For sale for £850,000.

Tower 24 was paired with Tower 25 and they were built to defend the main Marshland Sluice. By the time of the 1841 Census, the tower was occupied by various Coast Guards and their families.

Tower 24 may have been occupied during the Second World War, but in the event, none of he Dymchurch towers were modified at this time, as happened to Tower 3 and some of those in Sussex.

The tower was first opened to the public as a museum in 1969, and remains as a museum of Martello Towers, owned by English Heritage. It is currently the only tower solely devoted to the history of the Martello Towers.

After again being used by the Coastguard up until 1959, the tower was acquired by the Ministry of Works and restoration work was begun. The internal timberwork was found to be rotten, and that of Tower 23 used as a guide. A new floor of the correct pattern was installed, and room partitions added.

• Martello Tower, lookout, coastguard station. Scheduled Monument. Monument Number 463770.

• 1806

• Built standing 30ft high with walls measuring 5.5ft thick.

• 1841

• Occupied by families of coastguards.

• 1959 Until:

• Used by the Coastguard.

• 1963

• Field Investigation.

• 1966

• Restored by the Ministry of Works.

• 1969

• Opened as a museum by English Heritage.

• 1996

• Scheduled.

• 21st C Beginning:

• Good condition.

Tower 25 defended the Marshland Sluice with Tower 24. It stands in a car park and by 1988 was in poor condition despite having been restored externally at the same time as Tower 24.

The roof and central pillar are missing for some inexplicable reason, but a replacement roof has been put in. It appears to have a manhole in it, as daylight can be seen by looking upwards through the windows.

By 1991, the stucco was being stripped off prior to work being carried out. Restoration has now taken place, and the tower has had its stucco rendering replaced. A new door has been knocked through at ground level, as the wooden floor is missing. New windows have been put in, although vandals have taken to breaking them. The vegetation growing on the roof and round the base has also been removed. Tower 25 is possibly the only empty tower that is regularly maintained, whereas others are just left to deteriorate.

• Martello Tower, observation post. Scheduled Monument. Monument Number 463767.
• 1806
• Built standing 30ft high with walls measuring 5.5ft thick.
• 1963
• Field Investigation.
• 1986
• Scheduled.
• 1988
• Fair condition.
• 1991
• Restored. New floor and windows added.

Tower 26 guarded the Globsden Gut sluice gates along with Tower 27, although the sluice had become disused by 1870. The sea had encroached towards the tower, and so groynes and an apron were built to protect it. The structures were themselves being washed at high tides by 1870 and the Report on Coastal Defences (compiled in 1870, but not submitted until 1873) predicted that Tower 26 will probably soon have to be abandoned. The report subsequently stated that the tower was demolished in 1871.

• 1805
• Built.
• 1870
• Disused.
• 1871
• Demolished as it had become derelict.
• 1963
• Field Investigation.

Built to guard Globsden Gut sluice gates, Tower 27 was the last Martello in Kent, before the chain continued into Sussex. (The Dungeness promontory was not defended with Martellos due to the loose shingle and the fact that the surrounding marshland could be easily flooded, providing a cheaper means of defence).

The tower was one of the four fitted with semaphore signalling equipment by 1820, the others being Towers 4, 31 and 55. By the 1840's, the Coast Guard seemingly occupied the tower. On June 15, 1847, the Chief Boatman of Tower 27 was ordered to dispose of the tower's donkey (used to carry water and stores) as the cost of forage was too high. He was to exchange the animal with another used at Lydd Coast Guard Station (which was deemed too vicious), and sell it at public auction in Dymchurch!

However, the above story conflicts with the Report on Coast Defences, which states that Tower 27 was demolished in 1841 in consequence of the advance of the sea.

• Martello Tower, semaphore station. Monument Number 462705.
• 1805
• Built.
• 1820
• Held semaphore signalling equipment.
• 1840's
• Occupied by the Coastguard.
• 1841
• Demolished.
• 1963
• Field Investigation.

• Two redoubts were constructed into the south coast Martello chain to act as supply depots for the local Martellos, and were originally described as 'eleven-gun towers'. It was originally proposed to build a four-gun tower at Dymchurch, but this idea was revised at the Rochester conference of 1804.The other redoubt was at Eastbourne.

• Dymchurch Redoubt was built between 1806-1809 to the same specifications as its Eastbourne counterpart, although Dymchurch does not have any caponiers. (Caponiers are blockhouses in the moat that allowed the garrison to cover the entire ditch with defensive musket fire - Eastbourne Redoubt has five).

• Redoubt Eastbourne

• Eastbourne Redoubt is a circular coastal defence fort at Eastbourne, East Sussex, on the south coast of England. It was built in 1805 as part of the British anti-invasion preparations during the Napoleonic Wars. Visitors to the Redoubt can now explore the fortress, discovering the stories of the people who lived there throughout its 200 year history.

• Description

• Redoubt Fortress Eastbourne, Casemates No.2 & No.3 The redoubt is a circular structure, measuring 224 feet (68 metres) in diameter and is built almost entirely of brick with some granite facing. The lower tier is composed of a ring of 24 casemates or vaulted chambers, which open into a central parade ground. Casemate 11 was the main magazine for the redoubt, casemate 8 was modified in the 1870s as a cook house and casemates 23 and 24 were altered in the 1880s to provide a detention room and two cells.

• The upper tier above the casemates forms the terreplein or gun platform, which has a tall parapet pierced by granite-faced embrasures for eleven guns. Beside each gun position is an "L" shaped expense magazine which held a supply of ammunition for the guns to use in combat and could also be used as a shelter for the gun crews during an enemy bombardment. The low roof of these magazines forms a banquette or fire step so that the garrison could fire their muskets over the parapet in the event of an infantry attack. The parapet is also pierced by the main gate, which was originally the only access to the redoubt.

• The redoubt is surrounded by a ditch or dry moat which is 30 feet (9 metres) from the top of the parapet and 25 feet (7 metres) wide. On the far side of the moat, a glacis or earth ramp slopes away to ground level.[5] Both the moat and the glacis have been removed on the seaward side during construction of a sea wall and promenade in 1890. The floor of the ditch is traversed by five caponiers or covered galleries with loopholes that allowed the defenders to fire at any attackers who had reached that point. These are unique in any of the circular redoubts and are thought to have been added in the mid-19th century. Access to the main gate of the redoubt is across a wooden drop bridge, which is a modern reconstruction of the original, built in 2003 with help from the Royal Engineers. A second entrance from the ditch was created in 1957 by inserting a large doorway through the scarp wall into one of the casemates.

• History/Origin

• The decision to build the redoubt was made at a conference held in Rochester on 21 October 1804, to discuss defence against Napoleon's planned invasion of the United Kingdom, preparations for which were gaining momentum on the opposite side of the English Channel. The meeting, which was attended by the Prime Minister, William Pitt the Younger, agreed to adopt a revolutionary scheme to build a chain of mutually-supporting circular artillery towers along a stretch of the Channel coast where the French were thought to be most likely to land. The scheme had been devised by Captain William Henry Ford of the Royal Engineers and championed by Brigadier-General William Twiss who commanded the Royal Engineer Southern District. The original plan called for 83 Martello towers, each mounting a single heavy gun, at intervals along the coast and three 11-gun towers at Sea Houses (Eastbourne), Rye Harbour and Dymchurch. In the event, 74 Martello Towers were actually built and plans for the 11-gun tower at Rye were abandoned. The 11-gun towers, which came to be known as circular forts or grand redoubts, were intended to act as barracks and stores depots for the rest of the Martello chain, as well as formidable fortresses in their own right.[8] A third redoubt was later constructed at Harwich in Essex to support the Martello chain built to defend the east coast; although broadly similar, it differs in some details from the south coast redoubts.

• History

• 95th Rifles re-enactors firing whilst kneeling and in the Plunkett position In 1793, the French revolution reached climax when the Revolutionary Government issued orders to execute King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Two weeks later, on 1 February, the French republic declared war on Great Britain, which then braced itself for invasion.

• At that time British land-based defences were woefully inadequate as Great Britain had always relied on the Royal Navy for its defence. To prepare for invasion in 1794 British Parliament purchased a large piece of land at Shorncliffe, the obvious place for initial fortifications to be built as it was just 20 miles away from the French coast, so close, in fact, that the locals could see the smoke from the camp fires of Napoleon's waiting army.[1] Later further defences were added to the Kent Coast including the 28-mile-long Royal Military Canal, started in October 1804 and finished in June 1805, which stretches from Cliffend to Seabrook. Also Martello Towers were built between 1805 and 1808 to bolster the defences.

• Colonel William Twiss, a military engineer, designed the redoubt. Once built, the site became home to the 43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot, 52nd (Oxfordshire) Light Infantry Regiment, the 95th Rifles, and the light infantry brigades who Sir John Moore trained when he was stationed there in 1802.

• The Shorncliffe System

• The units stationed here during the Napoleonic wars greatly affected military history form this point onward. The light infantry trained at Shorncliffe were a new breed of soldier more akin to the soldiers of the modern British Army than their contemporaries. Using the "Shorncliffe Method", devised by Lt-Col Kenneth Mackenzie, the soldiers were taught to think for themselves and act on initiative. A high proportion of them were literate, which was unusual for the time. Moreover, in an age when many officers received no training, the light infantry officers drilled with the men. Their battlefield tactics were the embryonic emergence of current military manoeuvres, often fighting in skirmish formation ahead of the British main battle line.

• In the Victorian era the Redoubt was converted to a dwelling for the camp Commandant. Many of the bricks used in the construction of the house were reused from the original Redoubt building.

Sandgate Castle was built in 1539 by Henry VIII to defend the lower shore of Sandgate, as part of the second major coastal defence scheme to be implemented in Southern England. (The Roman Saxon shore forts were the first, the Martello Towers being the third.) Parts of the outer expanses have been lost to the sea over the centuries, but the circular keep survived at the top of the beach. This was converted into a sort of Martello Tower, and meant that a tower did not need to be built on this lower stretch of the coast, the local towers all being high up on the cliffs slightly inland.

Dover Express - Friday 3rd October 1873. Demolition of No. 10

The Royal Engineers' Experimental Committee attended at Hythe on Monday, and proceeded to carry out their operations against No. 10 Martello Tower, which had been condemned at the instigation of the Seabrook Estates Company (Limited), who contemplate, when the new branch from the South- Eastern line of railway is completed, building here a splendid watering-place that shall out rival Scarborough in the beauty of situation, if it does not in the beauty of popularity. Martello Towers are Very unsightly structures, and would certainly be any thing but an ornament to the Seabrook marine parade of the future. It was, therefore, highly necessary that such obstruction should be removed; its removal also afforded another opportunity for our military engineering school to experiment on a large scale and determine the effect of a supposed improved explosive force. Gun-cotton has been, we know, an invaluable agent of the engineer. From time to time it has been improved, and when scientifically handled it one of the best explosive powers we have at command, its force, weight for weight, being nearly fives times greater than gunpowder, as was demonstrated a short time back at Hastings.

The quality selected for this experiment was nitrated gun-cotton of Waltham Abbey manufacture, and the quantity was fixed at 150 1bs. weight, subdivided into three heaps. In the centre of each heap were placed two fuses surrounded by a primer of loose dry gun-cotton, the great bulk being wet. charges were fired by means of a service pattern dynamo-electric machine, the connecting wire being about five hundred yards long. The interior of the tower was denuded of all fittings, and the doors and embrasures were not, some supposed, stopped up to give greater effect to the explosion.