Clacton-on-Sea: Martello Tower D

Image: © Nigel Cox Taken: 28 Oct 2018

The east coast Martello Towers were built between 1808 and 1812. 29 were built from St Osyth in Essex north-eastwards to Aldeburgh in Suffolk, and are named by Historic England in the same order from A to Z then AA to CC, so this is the fourth tower along. Just to confuse the issue the Ordnance Survey refer to this one as Tower No 3 on all their mapping. The east coast towers are not circular in plan nor oval as might be thought from this viewpoint, but more of a triangular ovoid for want of a better term. This one is a Scheduled Monument and a Grade II Listed Building and the Historic England website describes it in particular (abridged) thus:- "The tower stands complete to its full height of some 10 metres. The exterior vari-coloured brickwork shows no signs of the rendering commonly applied to these structures. The brickwork was also fully exposed when the tower was photographed in 1913, and it is thought likely that this was its original appearance. The date stone above the door and the stone mouldings around the door and windows are also flush with the exterior face rather than slightly proud, as is normally the case where traces of stucco survive. All four windows, the door and the ladder chute below the door, have been bricked up in recent years to prevent vandalism. The interior is, however, reported to survive well and to retain many original features. Despite the loss of the associated forward battery, the tower survives well. In addition to its own commanding presence on the sea front, the tower also stands in sight of its nearest neighbour (Tower E) thus illustrating something of the original appearance of the defensive line. The most notable alteration to the tower is the World War II observation post. This later structure is now recognised as being significant in its own right, reflecting a further period of intense national crisis when the tower briefly resumed a military role." Martello Tower E is just visible in this photograph, to the right of the modern apartment block on the right of the subject tower. Part of the roof of the aforementioned observation post can also just be seen. The two people in orange high-visibility jackets were included to give some idea of scale, but were actually members of a Search and Rescue team looking for a lost person.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0