Martello Tower: Remnant of a glorious past
By Raghav Ramful
Published on 22nd August, 2008
The door to the past is only a few metres off the historic site of Les Salines salt pans in Black River where lies the L’Harmonie, one of only three remaining Martello Towers out of the five built in Mauritius between 1830 and 1833. It is also one of the only five such towers still existing and to be found east of the Cape of Good Hope.
As a matter of fact the l’Harmonie is the only British built Martello Tower and battery in the world which is today still standing complete with its armament as it was when it was first built. As such, it is of great importance worldwide and it is an outstanding example of a most effective early 19th century coastal defence fortification.
The defence of the island at that time had gained a greater degree of urgency with the proposal of the abolition of slavery in the colonies about to come before parliament. With a large population of slaves, the new colonial government was worried about a possible uprising by the colonists with external support from the French Forces using Reunion as their base. The decision was thus taken to build a Martello tower in the rear of each battery to act as a keep and a platform for additional guns.
The Martello as at now has kept its original black stone structure with whitish lime mortar lining between the stones.
The entrance to the tower is through three stone steps that give way to a small rectangular opening. The valuable word of caution before entering the tower would be to watch your steps as the flooring of the tower, which was originally of wood, is now in a deplorable condition and a few cranky planks remain. You should also pay heed to the buzzing sounds around your head as the place is infested with wasps. There is a wooden ladder leaning to a stone wall that leads to winding stone stairs which will take you to the platform on the tower.
The tower was designed by officers of the Royal Engineers in Mauritius but was essentially similar to the British south coast towers built along the coasts of Kent and Sussex.
The bomb-proof roof of the 12 m-high tower is supported by a large central stone pillar which stood almost the height of the tower and the interior arches were of English bricks. There is a single window in the structure that was provided with a shutter but no glass for improved air circulation.
The Martello tower was designed to accommodate one officer and up to 20 soldiers but in fact, the garrison was accommodated in the Black River Post at the head of the bay where there was barrack accommodation for up to 100 officers and men.
The armament is also very important and although 24-pounder SB iron guns are relatively common in Britain and elsewhere, the iron carriages and traversing platforms on which the L’Harmonie guns are mounted are today exceedingly rare. Iron standing carriages can be found in Britain today but no iron platforms remain and it was necessary to manufacture two replica platforms for the North East Martello Tower at Pembroke Dock in South Wales when the tower was refurbished some years ago.
In the centre of the gun platform, there remains an old cannon embedded in the stone floor muzzle upwards. The old gun has a spike protruding from the muzzle and it acted as a pintle for two traversing platforms. It has been said that this use of a single pintle mount for two guns on top of the tower is unique to Mauritius.
In addition to the battery and tower, the L’Harmonie site includes a small magazine, a furnace for heating shot to red heat and the remains of an old barrack block.
The foundations of the old barrack building are also of interest as the building probably dates back to the construction of the battery by the French earlier in the 18th century. Although nothing now remains of the barracks but some of the stone foundations have an archaeological significance since these foundations are one of the few remaining relics of a French military structure of the island.
The L’Harmonie is situated strategically across the main 19th century shipping route from China and India to the Cape of Good Hope. Mauritius was always defended by the French with gun batteries and forts sited to cover all landing places. With the capture of the island by the British in 1810, these batteries and forts were maintained until the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. With the end of the war, the defences of Mauritius were allowed to fall into disrepair since the British government was reluctant to spend money on these batteries and their armament now that there was no longer an apparent threat.
The defence of the island at that time had gained a greater degree of urgency with the proposal of the abolition of slavery in the colonies about to come before parliament. With a large population of slaves, the new colonial government was worried about a possible uprising by the colonists with external support from the French Forces using Reunion as their base. The decision was thus taken to build a Martello tower in the rear of each battery to act as a keep and a platform for additional guns.
The Martello as at now has kept its original black stone structure with whitish lime mortar lining between the stones.
The entrance to the tower is through three stone steps that give way to a small rectangular opening. The valuable word of caution before entering the tower would be to watch your steps as the flooring of the tower, which was originally of wood, is now in a deplorable condition and a few cranky planks remain. You should also pay heed to the buzzing sounds around your head as the place is infested with wasps. There is a wooden ladder leaning to a stone wall that leads to winding stone stairs which will take you to the platform on the tower.
The tower was designed by officers of the Royal Engineers in Mauritius but was essentially similar to the British south coast towers built along the coasts of Kent and Sussex.
The bomb-proof roof of the 12 m-high tower is supported by a large central stone pillar which stood almost the height of the tower and the interior arches were of English bricks. There is a single window in the structure that was provided with a shutter but no glass for improved air circulation.The Martello tower was designed to accommodate one officer and up to 20 soldiers but in fact, the garrison was accommodated in the Black River Post at the head of the bay where there was barrack accommodation for up to 100 officers and men.
The armament is also very important and although 24-pounder SB iron guns are relatively common in Britain and elsewhere, the iron carriages and traversing platforms on which the L’Harmonie guns are mounted are today exceedingly rare. Iron standing carriages can be found in Britain today but no iron platforms remain and it was necessary to manufacture two replica platforms for the North East Martello Tower at Pembroke Dock in South Wales when the tower was refurbished some years ago.
In the centre of the gun platform, there remains an old cannon embedded in the stone floor muzzle upwards. The old gun has a spike protruding from the muzzle and it acted as a pintle for two traversing platforms. It has been said that this use of a single pintle mount for two guns on top of the tower is unique to Mauritius.
In addition to the battery and tower, the L’Harmonie site includes a small magazine, a furnace for heating shot to red heat and the remains of an old barrack block.
The foundations of the old barrack building are also of interest as the building probably dates back to the construction of the battery by the French earlier in the 18th century. Although nothing now remains of the barracks but some of the stone foundations have an archaeological significance since these foundations are one of the few remaining relics of a French military structure of the island.
The L’Harmonie is situated strategically across the main 19th century shipping route from China and India to the Cape of Good Hope. Mauritius was always defended by the French with gun batteries and forts sited to cover all landing places. With the capture of the island by the British in 1810, these batteries and forts were maintained until the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. With the end of the war, the defences of Mauritius were allowed to fall into disrepair since the British government was reluctant to spend money on these batteries and their armament now that there was no longer an apparent threat.