Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A Georgian Martello tower, number 14, is situated on the beach at the eastern end of the Hythe firing ranges (Monument Number 1531850). The tower, which is Listed Grade II, was constructed in 1805-1806 as part of a chain of 11 regularly spaced towers guarding the coastline from Hythe to Dymchurch. The slightly elliptical, brick built tower measures around 13 metres in diameter externally and stands complete to its original height of about 10 metres. The tower was constructed on three levels, with battered walls, designed to deflect cannon shot, ranging from around 1.6 metres to 4 metres in thickness, the most substantial section being the wall base on the southern, seaward side. The external face of the tower was originally rendered in a cement mortar, or stucco, which served to strengthen the outer skin of bricks. This monument was scheduled in 1999.

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Monument Types

• MARTELLO TOWER (Post Medieval to Modern - 1806 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 1253 THE RANGES
Martello Tower (No 14) TR 13 SE 5/78A
II
2. Erected in 1806 as part of the coastal defence-system against an invasion from Napoleonic France. Built of brick with a coating of cement on the outside. The walls are 5½ to 6 ft thick. It is built around a centre column 5 ft thick and consists of 2 storeys with a flat roof as a gun platform.
Listing NGR: TR1550033837

Description from record TR 13 SE 4 :
(TR 15503383) Martello Tower (No. 14) (NAT) (1) Complete and in good condition. War Dept. property. (2) 1253 Martello Tower (No 14) The Ranges TR 13 SE 5/77A Grade II Erected in 1806 as part of the coastal defence system against an invasion from Napoleonic France. Built of brick with a coating of cement on the outside. The walls are 5.5 to 6 ft thick. It is built around a centre column 5 ft thick and consists of 2 storeys with a flat roof as a gun platform. (3) TR 155338. Martello 14 dating to 1805. (4) Martello 14 stands in the middle of the flat land where the Hythe firing ranges are sited. It has the letter A painted on its side, which relates to the range it is in. (5) Scheduled as an ancient monument 76A. Martello Tower on beach at Shorncliffe Rifle Range, Hythe. (6)

From the National Heritage List for England:

Details:

The monument includes a martello tower, one of a surviving pair situated on the beach at the eastern end of the Hythe firing ranges. The tower, which is Listed Grade II, lies 320m north east of tower no 15 and was constructed in 1805-6 as part of a chain of 11 regularly spaced towers guarding the coastline from Hythe to Dymchurch. The slightly elliptical, brick built tower measures around 13m in diameter externally and stands complete to its original height of about 10m. The tower was constructed on three levels, with battered (inwardly sloping) walls, designed to deflect cannon shot, ranging from around 1.6m to 4m in thickness, the most substantial section being the wall base on the southern, seaward side. The external face of the tower was originally rendered in a cement mortar, or stucco, which served to strengthen the outer skin of bricks. A thick central column rises from the basement to the top of the tower, from which springs the barrel vaulted first floor ceiling which supports the gun platform on the roof. Access into the tower was by way of a first floor doorway situated on the landward side, above which a vertical slot was cut into the wall head for mounting a flag pole. The door was reached from the ground by a retractable ladder, although this has not survived. The doorway is headed by a stone plaque which displays the tower number. The sand bank of an adjacent firing range abuts the north western wall of the tower, burying part of the wall below the door. The first floor was divided into three rooms, and provided accommodation for the garrison of 24 men and one officer. Two fireplaces heated the rooms which were lit by two windows to the north east and south west. The ground floor of the tower was reached by a trap door near the entrance, leading down through a suspended timber floor, only part of which survives. This was used to store ammunition and supplies, and provision for these included a single, vaulted magazine, partly recessed into the thickness of the outer wall. The open gun platform was reached from the first floor by an internal stone staircase constructed in the thickest part of the tower wall. The circular roof space, designed to accommodate a 24-pounder cannon mounted on a wooden traversing carriage, retains many of its original features, including the central pivot and the iron gun rails. The cannon, which had a range of around 1.5km and could be turned through 360 degrees, was operated by a series of rope pulleys and the six iron hauling-rings, used for traversing and preparing the cannon, remain in place on the parapet wall. Bricks used to seal the door and window openings, the modern danger signs attached to the walls of the tower, the sand bank and the modern fence around the northern edge of the tower are all excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features or the structures to which they are attached are included.

Reasons for Designation:

Martello towers are gun towers constructed to defend the vulnerable south eastern coast of England against the threat of ship-borne invasion by Napoleonic forces. Built as a systematic chain of defence in two phases, between 1805-1810 along the coasts of East Sussex and Kent, and between 1808- 1812 along the coasts of Essex and Suffolk, the design of martello towers was based on a fortified tower at Mortella Point in Corsica which had put up a prolonged resistance to British forces in 1793. The towers take the form of compact, free-standing circular buildings on three levels built of rendered brick. The towers of the south coast were numbered 1-74 from east to west, while those of the east coast were identified by a system of letters (A-Z, and then AA-CC) from south to north. Although they exhibit a marked uniformity of design, minor variations are discernible between the southern and eastern groups and amongst individual towers, due mainly to the practice of entrusting their construction to local sub-contractors. Most southern towers are elliptical in plan, whilst the eastern group are oval or cam-shaped externally, with axes at the base ranging between 14.4m by 13.5m and 16.9m by 17.7m. All are circular internally, the battered (inwardly sloping) walls of varying thicknesses, but with the thickest section invariably facing the seaward side. Most stand to a height of around 10m. Many martello towers are surrounded by dry moats originally encircled by counterscarp banks, and/or have cunettes (narrower water defences) situated at the foot of the tower wall. The ground floor was used for storage, with accommodation for the garrison provided on the first floor, and the main gun platform on the roof. The southern towers carried a single 24 pounder cannon, whilst the eastern line carried three guns (usually a 24 pounder cannon and two shorter guns or howitzers). Three large, circular ten- gun towers known as redoubts were also constructed at particularly vulnerable points, at Dymchurch, Eastbourne and Harwich. All three survive. As the expected Napoleonic invasion attempt did not materialise, the defensive strength of the martello tower system was never tested, and the tower design was soon rendered obsolete by new developments in heavy artillery. Many were abandoned and fell into decay or were demolished during the 19th century, although some continued in use into the 20th century as signalling or coastguard stations and a few saw use as look out points or gun emplacements during the two World Wars. Of the original 74 towers on the south coast, 26 now survive, and of the 29 on the east coast, 17 now survive. Those which survive well and display a diversity of original components are considered to merit protection.

Martello tower no 14 survives well, and retains many of its original components. As one of the few surviving examples of a chain of original towers, no 14 illustrates the strategic distribution of towers at vulnerable points of the coastline and demonstrates the integration of the martello tower system in the defence of Britain during the early 19th century. (8-9)

<1> OS 6" 12-MAR-1962 (OS Card Reference). SKE48303.

<2> F1 ASP 18-APR-1963 (OS Card Reference). SKE42160.

<3> DOE (HHR) Boro of Hythe Kent 21-DEC-1973 33 (OS Card Reference). SKE39847.

<4> Handbook of Kent's Defences 1540-1945 1977 38 (D Bennett) (OS Card Reference). SKE43679.

<5> Martello Towers 1972 88 (S Sutcliffe) (OS Card Reference). SKE46560.

<6> DOE (IAM) Rec Form 23 2 76 (OS Card Reference). SKE40716.

<7> Field report for monument TR 13 SE 4 - April, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5371.

<8> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<9> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

Sources and further reading