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Martello towers are small defensive forts built by the British Empire at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. They stand about 40 feet (12m) high (with two floors) and had a garrison of one officer and 25 men. Their round structure and thick walls of solid masonry made them immensely resistant to cannon fire, while their height made them an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece, mounted on the flat roof and able to traverse a 360° arc. A few were surrounded by a moat for extra defence.

They took their inspiration (and their name, albeit mutated) from a round fortress, itself part of a larger Genovese defense system , at Mortella Point in Corsica. This had, in 1794, successfully beaten off the attack of two British warships, HMS Fortitude (74 guns) and HMS Juno (32 guns) but was eventually defeated by land-based forces after two days of heavy fighting. The British were duly impressed by the effectiveness of the tower against their most modern warships and copied the design. Between 1804 and 1812 they built a chain of similar structures to defend the south and east coast of England, Ireland and Guernsey to guard against possible invasion from France, as much as the French built similar towers, also used for communication by optical telegraphs ( Chappe Telegraph). 105 were built in England, set at intervals along the coast from Seaford, SussexThis article refers to the county in England. traditional county. Sussex is a traditional county in southern England, divided for administrative purposes into the two counties of West Sussex and East Sussex and the city of Brighton and Hove. It correspond, to AldeburghAldeburgh is a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. In the 16th century, it was a leading port and had a flourishing ship-building industry. Sir Francis Drake's ships Greyhound and Pelican (later renamed Golden Hind were both built in Aldeburgh. When th, SuffolkThis article is about the English county. For other uses, see Suffolk (disambiguation). Suffolk (pronounced 'suffuk') is a large, low-lying county in East Anglia in eastern England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and. Most were constructed under the direction of General William Twiss ( 1745Events May 11 War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army including the Black Watch June 4 Frederick the Great destroys Austrian army at Hohenfriedberg August 19 Beginning of the '45 Jaco– 1827Events February 20 Battle of Huzaingo February 28 The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad offering commercial transportation of both people and freight. March 7 Ellen Turner is abducted The Shrigley Abduction case begins) and a Captain Ford.

The effectiveness of Martello towers was never actually tested in combat against a Napoleonic invasion fleet. After the Napoleonic threat had passed, England's Martello towers met a variety of fates. Many were taken over by the Coast GuardA coast guard is an organization devoted to saving the lives of shipwrecked mariners or people in danger at sea. In some countries it is part of the military. In other countries it is a civilian or even volunteer organization. Most coast guards operate sh to aid in the fight against smuggling. Fifteen were demolished to re-use their stonework. Thirty were washed away by the sea, while four more were destroyed by the military in experiments to test the effectiveness of the new rifled artillery. During the Second World War, some Martello towers returned to military service to serve as observation platforms and firing platforms for anti-aircraft artillery. Forty-seven have survived in England, of which a few have been restored and transformed into museums, most are privately owned or private residences and the remainder are derelict.