IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Langer Road, FELIXSTOWE, IP11 2EE

Terrace houses along Manor Terrace Felixstowe Suffolk.

Used by the National Coastwatch Institution to maintain a visual watch along the coastline. See also Image

This Martello Tower at South Felixstowe is used by the National Coastwatch Institution. The station is manned by volunteers who assist HM Coastguard and the rescue services by maintaining a visual watch along the coastline. The visual lookout is situated 45ft above sea level. As well as locating people and vessels in difficulty volunteers help monitor and record local weather conditions. Each station is responsible for its own funding and the training of watchkeepers. Volunteers are all ages and come from many different walks of life. They are trained to look out for sea and shore users in trouble and must know how to deal with an emergency.

The Felixstowe National Coastwatch lookout is situated in Martello Tower P between the town and Landguard Fort. The tower was formerly a Coastguard lookout which has been taken over by the National Coastwatch, a voluntary organisation set up in 1994 to restore a visual watch along UK shores after many small Coastguard stations had been closed. http://www.coastwatch-felixstowe.co.uk/

Flush Bracket OSBM 2072 Felixstowe Martello Tower on W face.

Martello towers are small defensive forts built during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards. They stand up to 40 feet (12m) high and have two floors, commonly housing a garrison comprising one officer and 15 to 25 men. Their round structure and thick walls of solid masonry made them resistant to cannon fire, while their height made them an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece which was mounted on the flat roof and able to traverse a 360° arc. With the introduction of powerful rifled artillery they became obsolete but many have survived, sometimes converted into private dwellings, housing a museum or used by the coastguard, such as this one. Many are preserved as historic monuments.

Martello towers are small defensive forts built during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards. They stand up to 40 feet (12m) high and have two floors, commonly housing a garrison comprising one officer and 15 to 25 men. Their round structure and thick walls of solid masonry made them resistant to cannon fire, while their height made them an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece which was mounted on the flat roof and able to traverse a 360° arc. With the introduction of powerful rifled artillery they became obsolete but many have survived, sometimes converted into private dwellings, housing a museum or used by the coastguard, such as this one. Many are preserved as historic monuments.