Programme 2
Martello Tower
- Martello Tower
After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, plans were drawn up to provide a comprehensive chain of defences around Pembroke Dock, but as there seemed to be no immediate threat of invasion, they were never completed. Then, in the middle of the 19th Century there were renewed fears of French aggression, and so the Prime-Minister Lord Palmerston ordered that Britain’s coastal defences be strengthened. Two Martello Towers were built around Pembroke Dock: one on an island out in the waterway and one to protect the north-eastern corner of the docks. It was this one that Sian Pari Huws visited, in the company of the archaeologist Paul Sandbrook.
The tower was completed in 1851 and displays the classic Martello design.
- Sian with Paul Sandbrook
However real the threat of invasion seemed at the time, these towers were never put to the test, and indeed many people saw them as a waste of money and they were dubbed “Palmerston’s Follies”. The design of the towers soon became obsolete with the introduction of rifled artillery, which was able to smash through the thick walls. No more Martello Towers would be built in Britain after the 1860s, and many of the towers would fall into disrepair, be demolished or be put to other uses. However, the fine example at Pembroke Dock has now been restored and is open to the public as a museum, full of fascinating exhibits.
9:00PM Tuesday
Repeated on S4C Digidol 9:00PM Saturday
with English Subtitles