4 ms·

Martello Tower

67 points by benbreen 3y ago

tigerlily 3y ago
> Curiously enough, the name of the Marletto Tower shows a remarkable similarity with 19th-century British fortification named Martello tower (see wikipedia). Whether the name in Heroes of Might and Magic III is just a misspelling or intentional, that remains unknown. [1] [1] https://heroes.thelazy.net/index.php/Marletto_Tower https://heroes.thelazy.net/index.php/Marletto_Tower
- Sharlin 3y ago
  Yeah! Always wondered where the name "Marletto Tower" came from.
jot 3y ago
The one nearest me has a fantastic museum [0] inside. A large part of it is dedicated to old tech donated by locals over the years. Highly recommended if you’re in the area. [0]: https://seafordmuseum.co.uk/ https://seafordmuseum.co.uk/
- mttch 3y ago
  I grew up around there. Definitely second the museum recommendation, highly eclectic.
- icosian 3y ago
  A Martello tower in Howth, Dublin, has also become a technology museum, known as the Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio. It was the passion project of one individual, Pat Herbert, who sadly passed away in 2020. https://sites.google.com/site/hurdygurdymuseum/home https://sites.google.com/site/hurdygurdymuseum/home
wheybags 3y ago
I grew up in Dublin, these are all over the place there. I particularly like the one in Loughshinny, there's a rope hanging out the (metres above the ground) doorway, and you can climb in to explore. The floor inside has collapsed, but you can shimmy around on the ruin of an interior wall to get to a spiral staircase, which brings you up to the gun platform up top. No gun left, unfortunately :p. There is a murder hole* though. * https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_hole https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_hole
- urschrei 3y ago
  The one on Ireland’s Eye also has a rope btw
  - musiciangames 3y ago
    Same for the one on Shenick Island, Skerries
- dmoo 3y ago
  You can stay in the one in Sutton. https://www.airbnb.ie/rooms/8003265?psafe_param=1&c=.pi0.pk314483168_127445633672&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7vyy2emAhAMVyZFQBh3AGQusEAAYASAAEgIn8_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&source_impression_id=p3_1706470425_%2Bv48rDcXxuVZmPj1 https://www.airbnb.ie/rooms/8003265?psafe_param=1&c=.pi0.pk3...
- lawlessone 3y ago
  I found a guy youtube that made a great drone video of the one in Dalkey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF0VqML761U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF0VqML761U
ChocMontePy 3y ago
I'm a James Joyce fan, but I had no idea until now that Fort Denison here in Sydney Harbour is a Martello tower.
- jhfdbkofdchk 3y ago
  have you been to his old place in Dublin? it's interesting...
- InternetGiant 3y ago
  The Joyce museum, in an old Martello tower, is defined worth a trip if you are in Dublin. https://joycetower.ie/ https://joycetower.ie/
- dumpsterlid 3y ago
  Ulysses is as an absolutely incredible book, the Martello tower in the morning with Stephen and Mulligan looking out at the “snotgreen sea” will forever live rent free in my head.
mywacaday 3y ago
Some have been converted into homes, good example here https://www.wowhaus.co.uk/2014/09/21/on-the-market-award-winning-19th-century-martello-tower-conversion-in-bawdsey-suffolk/ https://www.wowhaus.co.uk/2014/09/21/on-the-market-award-win...
traeregan 3y ago
Of the ones listed, I've only been to the two in Key West, FL, USA. Neither of them (currently) outwardly resembles the, apparently common, cylindrical/cone look of most of the ones pictured in the wiki. The West Tower garden is beautiful. The East Tower is a museum and my primary memory of it is that it houses this creepy doll that we learned about during a Ghost tour and had to go see for ourselves: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/robert-doll https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/robert-doll
GavinAnderegg 3y ago
I live near the Prince of Wales Tower (the first image in the article), but only today learned that it’s the oldest Martello tower in North America! It’s the first location on Bloomsday gatherings in Halifax.
hnlmorg 3y ago
The Harwich one hosts a beer festival every year. It’s fun https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harwich_Redoubt https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harwich_Redoubt
kylecazar 3y ago
I went on a ship around the world in college -- started in Nova Scotia and ended in California. I had an opportunity to see TWO of these towers! In Halifax and Mauritius (in the Indian ocean). It really drove home the old quip about the sun never setting on the British empire. Especially having arrived by sea.
waiquoo 3y ago
I grew up in the Fort Johnson neighborhood in Charleston, so I was surprised to see that it was listed as a martello. The magazine is definitely still there, a little brick building with very thick walls (especially for the size of the building). It looks like several forts were built and destroyed on the site (https://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/mrri/ftjohnson.html https://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/mrri/ftjohnson.html) but the only trace I've ever seen are the earthwork battlements along the harbor side. The location is better known for the point (right by the magazine) where the first shot of the civil war was fired towards Fort Sumter.
userabchn 3y ago
The one in Dalkey (south Co. Dublin) is supplemented by another tower on top of nearby Dalkey hill that could see ships from further away and signal down to the Martello tower.
- dmurray 3y ago
  That one is a private residence, it was converted into a one-bed home. https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/new-to-market/one-bed-martello-tower-in-dalkey-for-2-million-1.1786726 https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-...
  - userabchn 3y ago
    There is another Martello tower on Dalkey island.
surfingdino 3y ago
What will be the equivalent standard defence structure found on the sites of former US Army bases in the future? Is there one?
rappatic 3y ago
The opening of James Joyce's masterpiece novel Ulysses [1] is set in a martello tower. They're dotted all around Dublin. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_(novel)
botanical 3y ago
The one in Simon's Town, South Africa, is supposedly the oldest one built in 1795. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Martello_Tower,_Simon%27s_Town https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Martello_Tower,_...

67 points by benbreen 3y ago

> Curiously enough, the name of the Marletto Tower shows a remarkable similarity with 19th-century British fortification named Martello tower (see wikipedia). Whether the name in Heroes of Might and Magic III is just a misspelling or intentional, that remains unknown. [1] [1] https://heroes.thelazy.net/index.php/Marletto_Tower https://heroes.thelazy.net/index.php/Marletto_Tower

Sharlin 3y ago
Yeah! Always wondered where the name "Marletto Tower" came from.

jot 3y ago

The one nearest me has a fantastic museum [0] inside. A large part of it is dedicated to old tech donated by locals over the years. Highly recommended if you’re in the area. [0]: https://seafordmuseum.co.uk/ https://seafordmuseum.co.uk/

mttch 3y ago
I grew up around there. Definitely second the museum recommendation, highly eclectic.
icosian 3y ago
A Martello tower in Howth, Dublin, has also become a technology museum, known as the Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio. It was the passion project of one individual, Pat Herbert, who sadly passed away in 2020. https://sites.google.com/site/hurdygurdymuseum/home https://sites.google.com/site/hurdygurdymuseum/home

wheybags 3y ago

I grew up in Dublin, these are all over the place there. I particularly like the one in Loughshinny, there's a rope hanging out the (metres above the ground) doorway, and you can climb in to explore. The floor inside has collapsed, but you can shimmy around on the ruin of an interior wall to get to a spiral staircase, which brings you up to the gun platform up top. No gun left, unfortunately :p. There is a murder hole* though. * https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_hole https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_hole

urschrei 3y ago
The one on Ireland’s Eye also has a rope btw
- musiciangames 3y ago
  Same for the one on Shenick Island, Skerries
dmoo 3y ago
You can stay in the one in Sutton. https://www.airbnb.ie/rooms/8003265?psafe_param=1&c=.pi0.pk314483168_127445633672&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7vyy2emAhAMVyZFQBh3AGQusEAAYASAAEgIn8_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&source_impression_id=p3_1706470425_%2Bv48rDcXxuVZmPj1 https://www.airbnb.ie/rooms/8003265?psafe_param=1&c=.pi0.pk3...
lawlessone 3y ago
I found a guy youtube that made a great drone video of the one in Dalkey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF0VqML761U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF0VqML761U

ChocMontePy 3y ago

I'm a James Joyce fan, but I had no idea until now that Fort Denison here in Sydney Harbour is a Martello tower.

jhfdbkofdchk 3y ago
have you been to his old place in Dublin? it's interesting...
InternetGiant 3y ago
The Joyce museum, in an old Martello tower, is defined worth a trip if you are in Dublin. https://joycetower.ie/ https://joycetower.ie/
dumpsterlid 3y ago
Ulysses is as an absolutely incredible book, the Martello tower in the morning with Stephen and Mulligan looking out at the “snotgreen sea” will forever live rent free in my head.

mywacaday 3y ago

Some have been converted into homes, good example here https://www.wowhaus.co.uk/2014/09/21/on-the-market-award-winning-19th-century-martello-tower-conversion-in-bawdsey-suffolk/ https://www.wowhaus.co.uk/2014/09/21/on-the-market-award-win...

traeregan 3y ago

Of the ones listed, I've only been to the two in Key West, FL, USA. Neither of them (currently) outwardly resembles the, apparently common, cylindrical/cone look of most of the ones pictured in the wiki. The West Tower garden is beautiful. The East Tower is a museum and my primary memory of it is that it houses this creepy doll that we learned about during a Ghost tour and had to go see for ourselves: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/robert-doll https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/robert-doll

GavinAnderegg 3y ago

I live near the Prince of Wales Tower (the first image in the article), but only today learned that it’s the oldest Martello tower in North America! It’s the first location on Bloomsday gatherings in Halifax.

hnlmorg 3y ago

The Harwich one hosts a beer festival every year. It’s fun https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harwich_Redoubt https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harwich_Redoubt

kylecazar 3y ago

I went on a ship around the world in college -- started in Nova Scotia and ended in California. I had an opportunity to see TWO of these towers! In Halifax and Mauritius (in the Indian ocean). It really drove home the old quip about the sun never setting on the British empire. Especially having arrived by sea.

waiquoo 3y ago

I grew up in the Fort Johnson neighborhood in Charleston, so I was surprised to see that it was listed as a martello. The magazine is definitely still there, a little brick building with very thick walls (especially for the size of the building). It looks like several forts were built and destroyed on the site (https://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/mrri/ftjohnson.html https://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/mrri/ftjohnson.html) but the only trace I've ever seen are the earthwork battlements along the harbor side. The location is better known for the point (right by the magazine) where the first shot of the civil war was fired towards Fort Sumter.

userabchn 3y ago

The one in Dalkey (south Co. Dublin) is supplemented by another tower on top of nearby Dalkey hill that could see ships from further away and signal down to the Martello tower.

dmurray 3y ago
That one is a private residence, it was converted into a one-bed home. https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/new-to-market/one-bed-martello-tower-in-dalkey-for-2-million-1.1786726 https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-...
- userabchn 3y ago
  There is another Martello tower on Dalkey island.

surfingdino 3y ago

What will be the equivalent standard defence structure found on the sites of former US Army bases in the future? Is there one?

rappatic 3y ago

The opening of James Joyce's masterpiece novel Ulysses [1] is set in a martello tower. They're dotted all around Dublin. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulysses_(novel)

botanical 3y ago

The one in Simon's Town, South Africa, is supposedly the oldest one built in 1795. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Martello_Tower,_Simon%27s_Town https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Martello_Tower,_...