Lewis Tower, Jersey
Lewis Tower, Jersey (aka Lewis's Tower), is a Martello tower that the British erected in 1835 in St Ouen's Bay. They named the tower for Colonel Griffith George Lewis, who commanded the Royal Engineers in Jersey (December 1830 to January 1836).
The location was of some military significance. On 1 May 1779, the Rector of St Ouen, le Sire du Parcq, brought the parish field guns to a favourable spot to help repulse the Franco-Dutch Invasion of Jersey. In 1787 the British placed a battery of three 24-pounder guns on the spot. Then in 1835, the British built the Martello tower there.
Lewis Tower has an elliptical footprint, with the tower's wall being thicker on the seaward side. It consists of three levels, and has a central pillar and a circular spiral staircase between the floors.[1] It is 33 feet in height and has a diameter of 39 feet. It was armed with a single 24-pounder gun.[2] It is thus smaller and more lightly armed than the nearby Kempt Tower. Four years after Lewis Tower's completion, it received a coat of stucco or cement to reduce the damp.[3]
During the German Occupation of the Channel Islands the Germans built a large bunker next to Lewis Tower, a bunker that today houses the Channel Islands Military Museum. They also built a concrete extension at the tower's base that housed a searchlight.
Today, the tower is available as self-catering accommodation under a program Jersey Heritage administers for the States of Jersey Towers and Forts project. [4]
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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- Pages with broken file links
- World War II sites in the Channel Islands
- Buildings and structures in Saint Ouen, Jersey
- Museums in Jersey
- Coastal artillery
- Fortifications in Jersey
- History of Jersey
- World War II sites of Nazi Germany
- Military history of the Channel Islands during World War II
- Coastal fortifications
- Towers in Jersey
- Buildings and structures completed in 1835
- Martello towers
