Martello Tower

The Martello Tower design originated in the early 19th century, after a successful defense by a small tower at Cape Mortella in Corsica repulsed two British naval ships for two days before surrendering. The British adopted this design, leading to the construction of over 100 Martello Towers in various locations globally, including Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Canada, the United States and the West Indies.

Construction of the Martello Tower at Ferry Point Park began in 1823 and the design follows the South Coast towers in England, with an ovoid shape, thick walls (10.5 feet in front, 6.5 feet in the rear), and a small internal diameter (19 feet). It is built from Bermuda’s indigenous “hard-stone,” a limestone resistant to weathering, making it ideal for fortifications. The walls are asymmetrical, with the thickest part facing the gap between Ferry Point and Coney Island, the most likely direction of attack.

The only access into the fort is by a drawbridge which crosses the ditch to the barracks on the second level which was designed to accommodate six men, with a fireplace and two windows and a wooden floor. The tower’s ground floor housed magazines, a storeroom, and a rainwater cistern. On the roof level were features for signaling, including iron rings for a mast, and by 1828 there a single gun 18-pounder gun was mounted which commanded a 360-degree arc of fire.

The purpose of the tower was to prevent enemy crossing from the main island to St. George’s, to communicate with the main island and defend the passage from Murray’s anchorage to Castle Harbour. The tower’s role in Bermuda’s defense diminished by the late 19th century, especially after the rearming of Fort George. By the 1870s, the tower had fallen out of use.

To the east of the Martello Tower was a powder magazine constructed in the late 1820s by Major Thomas Blanshard to store 220 barrels of gunpowder. The walls of the magazine are reinforced by flying buttresses and the vaulted roof protected against incoming cannonballs

Remediation of the roof of the magazine and sections of the surrounding walls are a recent restoration project of The St. George’s Foundation.

Reference: Edward C. Harris, Bermuda Forts 1612-1957, 1997.