Victoria Tower, Jersey
Victoria Tower, Jersey, is a Martello tower that the British completed in 1837 and named after Queen Victoria, who had ascended to the monarchy about two years earlier.[1] The tower sits on Le Mont Nicholas in Saint Martin, and its builders placed it there to impede an enemy from siting guns there with which to bombard Mont Orgueil. Currently, the National Trust for Jersey administers the tower.
Design
Victoria Tower is circular. The tower measures 33 ft (10.1 m) in height and 32 ft (9.8 m) in diameter.[2] The tower is the only Martello on Jersey to have a ditch around it. The ditch itself is 12 ft (3.7 m) deep and 10 ft (3.0 m) across. A drawbridge spans the ditch. In the counterscarp beneath the drawbridge there is a small room, with two doors, that may have been a store room. Inside the tower, a circular staircase connected the three floors.[3] The tower was armed with a single 24-pounder gun.[2] During WWII and the Occupation of the Channel Islands, the Germans placed a small anti-aircraft gun on the top of the tower.
References
- Clements, William H. (1998) Towers of Strength: Story of Martello Towers. (London: Pen & Sword). ISBN 978-0-85052-679-0.
- Grimsley, E.J. (1988) The Historical Development of the Martello Tower in the Channel Islands. (Sarnian Publications). ISBN 978-0-9513868-0-4.
- Sutcliffe, Sheila (1973) Martello Towers. (Cranbury, NJ: Associated Universities Press).
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