Programme 2
Martello Tower
- Martello Tower
The estuary of the Daugleddau in Pembrokeshire provides one of the finest natural harbours in the world, which now one of Britain’s major ports for importing oil and gas. Back in the 19th Century, however, this was an important centre for the Royal Navy, with a ship-building yard at Pembroke Dock that produced many of the Navy’s finest warships. The authorities were concerned about the possibility of an enemy attack on the naval base – after all, the French had landed at Carreg Wastad point, near Fishguard, back in 1797 – and so a series of defensive measures were taken, including the building of two “Martello Towers”.
Martello Towers were built as defences across Southern England during the Napoleonic Wars, and across Britain and indeed throughout the British Empire in the following decades. The name came from a defensive tower in the town of Mortella on the island of Corsica. When the Royal Navy attempted to take this small tower in 1794, they discovered that it packed a powerful punch, and it took the British forces two days to overcome the defenders. The British authorities were so impressed with the design that they copied it – although the name got transformed to “Martello”.
The design of the Martello Towers made them formidable defences even though they were garrisoned by just 24 men and one officer. They were two storey structures, 12m high with walls that were up to 4m thick. The ground floor was used as a storeroom and the living quarters were on the first floor, which was divided into several rooms. On the flat roof there would be one or two cannon, mounted on a swivel so that they could turn through 360 degrees. The weight of the cannon was supported by a massive brick pillar which rose from the foundations. A 24-pounder cannon, which would typically be used on these towers, had a range of about 900 metres.
9:00PM Tuesday
Repeated on S4C Digidol 9:00PM Saturday
with English Subtitles