36 YEARBOOK 2022 on the first floor and accommodation for a garrison of up to 24 men and an officer on the top floor. Rainwater landing on the large flat roof was in some cases collected and stored in a tank below the ground floor, but much of it soaked into the walls. Louvered shutters provided some ventilation, and with two fireplaces in use it may have been possible to keep the worst of the cold and damp at bay. The first floor entrance was accessed by a removable ladder, making it almost impregnable from the land. From 1804 over a hundred Martello towers began to be built in England, mostly along the southeast of the country from the Solent to Suffolk. In Scotland three were built, two in the Orkneys overlooking Longhope Sound, and another at the docks in Leith, Edinburgh. In Wales there is one at Pembroke Dock in Milford Haven, while Ireland had 50 Martello towers constructed around its coasts. In addition to these Martello towers, larger batteries were constructed to protect key anchorages and harbours both from the sea and from forces landing on the coast. Lough Foyle on the east coast of Ireland, for example, provides a large, sheltered anchorage as well as access to the port of Derry/Londonderry. The narrow mouth of the lough was protected by a Martello tower armed with a 24-pounder cannon at Magilligan Point and a much larger battery on the other side, at Greencastle, where there were a further five 24-pounders and two 5½-inch howitzers. Plans for the two forts had been drawn up in 1810 as part of a wider plan to defend both this lough and the neighbouring Lough Swilly where a further six forts were constructed. Construction of the larger fort was completed in 1814, while the Martello opposite was not completed until 1817. In Ireland 81 smaller signal towers were also constructed in the first few years of the Napoleonic Wars, running around the full length of the west and south coasts and up to Dublin to provide a warning of a naval attack. These generally consisted of a two-storey square tower with thick brick walls, a flat roof with parapet, and fireplaces. Like the Martello towers, the main door was at first-floor level and could be accessed by a ladder, and each held a small garrison, typically of around 8–12 men, including two signalmen. The signalling system required that each signal station be visible to its counterparts on either side. Sending a message involved raising and lowering a large rectangular flag, a smaller blue pennant and four black balls in various combinations along a system centred on a tall wooden mast. The stations also communicated with ships. If all 81 stations operated simultaneously, a signal could travel over 1,000 km around the coast of Ireland. Low The Martello tower at Magilligon Point: a single 24-pounder on its flat roof would have provided protection for the entrance to Lough Foyle (Photo: Colin Park) The signal tower on Dursey Island, County Cork – one of a network of 81 constructed shortly after the start of the Napoleonic Wars in 1804 (Photo: Cathy Cox, CC BY-SA 2.0)
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