Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands and was fortified during the French Revolutionary Wars. This included a number of infantry towers and coastal defence batteries. Some of the towers were subsequently absorbed into later small coastal defence forts.
Grève de Lecq Tower, 1780 at Saint Mary
St Ouen No. 3 or D (High Tower), 1796 at Saint Ouen
La Rocco Tower , 1796 at Saint Ouen
St Ouen C, at Saint Ouen , LOST.
St Ouen B, , at Saint Ouen , LOST.
St Ouen A, , at Saint Ouen , LOST.
St Brelade No. 2 at Saint Brélade
Ouaisné Tower, 1787 at Saint Brélade
Beaumont Tower, 1787 at Saint Peter
Second Tower or St Aubin’s 2nd Tower, LOST.
First Tower, at Saint Helier
Le Hocq Tower, 1781at St Clement
Platte Rocque Tower, 1781 at Grouville
Seymour Tower , 1782 at Grouville
La Rocque Tower at Grouville
Keppel Tower at Grouville
Le Hurel Tower at Grouville
Fauvic Tower at Grouville
Grouville No. 5 at Grouville
Grouville No. 8 at Grouville,
Archirondel Tower, 1793 at Saint Martin
St Catherine’s Tower at Saint Martin
Fliquet Tower, 1787 at Saint Martin
The towers were built with four machicolations on the top level, unlike Guernsey where they had none. The only exception to his is Archirondel Tower, one of the last built, which had three machicolations.
Plans indicate that the Infantry Towers were built with three floors.
- The first storey had a wooden floor, entrance doorway and eleven loopholes.
- The second story had a wooden floor, sleeping accommodation and twelve loopholes.
- The roof or cover was accessed through a central hatchway and provided additional firing positions over a parapet.
When built the infantry towers had no artillery on the roof but from 1803, the towers had their roofs strengthened and a 12-pdr SB carronades was mounted.
By 1833 there was an intention to upgrade these to 18-pdr carronades on the small tower in Jersey.
32-pdr Carronade
In addition to the Infantry Towers, eight Martello Towers were built in Jersey. All survive except one destroyed by the German Forces. The Jersey Martello Towers vary in size.
Portelet Martello Tower, 1807 at Saint Brélade
La Tour de Vinde Martello Tower, 1808, at Saint Brélade
Icho Tower Martello Tower, 1810
L’Etacq Martello Tower ,1832, at Saint Ouen, LOST.
La Collette Martello Tower, 1834 at Saint Helier
Kempt Tower Martello Towe ,1834 at Saint Ouen
Lewis Martello Tower, 1835 at Saint Ouen
Victoria Martello Tower, 1837 at Saint Martin