Sussex Military Research Projects
Martello Tower No.28
Project ID: SMR1018
Location: Rye Harbour, East Sussex
Project date: 2018
Periods:
Partners:
Description: A partial survey focussing on internal features, the roof area and moat of Martello Tower No.28 at Rye Harbour. Built 1805-08 to meet the Napoleonic invasion threat, the tower was also occupied by the coastguard. During the Second World War it became an observation post and has an Ordnance Survey tertiary trig point installed on the roof.
Ladders were required to access the interior and reach the roof as the internal wooden floors were missing. The magazine partition walls had been severely damaged, presumably as a 20th century attempt to open up floorspace in the structure.
The roofspace retained evidence of coastguard occupation in the form of a square brick-built cubicle around the original central pillar. An attempt had been made to level up the chamfered parapet stones with brick and concrete, seemingly to create a foundation for a larger structure. Nothing concerning this addition was found in the archive documents.
