Martello Tower

This tower is a replica based off Martello towers which are small, round, forts. The origins of British Martello towers come from their construction to protect British territory from the French in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The tower on Tower Hill, its namesake, was built in response to attacks on Freetown and the British colonial administration located on top of Tower Hill. Governor Day received the most modern model of a Martello tower employed by the British military. Construction of the tower began in April 1805 and it is believed that no shots were ever fired in angst from the tower. In 1870, the tower was in ruins and it was converted to be a water tower to provide water for Fort Thornton and the colonial buildings on Tower Hill. It is currently incorporated into the Sierra Leonean governmental complex on the hill.

This tower, like Fort Thornton shows the colonial might and prowess through imposing infrastructure used to dissuade anyone from rebelling or fighting the colonial power. The tower was built in response to indigenous African forces that attacked Freetown. This shows the tensions between the free blacks from "The New World" and the indigenous Africans in the area. It also shows that resistance to colonialism was such a concern in the colonial power's eyes they invested and installed the latest and greatest defensive structure in their repertoire.

Isaac Land, and Andrew M Schocket. "New Approaches to the Founding of the Sierra Leone Colony, 1786-1808." Journal of Colonialism & Colonial History 9, no. 3 (2008): N_A.

Clements, William Holliwell. Martello Towers Worldwide. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military, 2011.

“Martello Tower, Tower Hill, Freetown.” Sierra Leone Heritage. Accessed December 2, 2020. http://www.sierraleoneheritage.org/sites/monuments/martello.