Mortella Tower. Corsica (elevation). First illustration in Plan of Mortella Tower, St Fiorenzo Bay. Corsica, 1794. Repro ID: PU1621 ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, LondonMartello Towers are castle shaped forts that were built on the south and east coasts of England in the first part of the 19th century.

The name originated from a tower at Mortella Point in Corsica which the British attacked in 1794 when blockading the island during the Napoleonic Wars. Their purpose was to withstand a siege and fire on enemy ships when the threat of invasion by the French was feared.

Forty-one of these towers still survive along the coasts of Kent, Sussex, Essex and Suffolk.