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Martello tower no 5 at Folkestone School for Girls is a defensive coastal fortification built during the Napoleonic Wars, specifically constructed between 1808 and 1810 as part of the extensive chain of Martello towers erected along the Kent and Sussex coasts. The tower is a circular or near-circular structure of brick and stone construction, characteristic of the Martello tower design, built to provide gun emplacements against potential French invasion during the Napoleonic period. Originally one of a series of approximately ninety such towers constructed along the southern English coast, this example represents the standard military architecture of the Napoleonic fortification scheme. The tower was subsequently incorporated into the grounds of Folkestone School for Girls and remains a significant surviving example of early nineteenth-century coastal defence architecture.
Martello tower no 5 at Folkestone School for Girls is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1017172. View the official record →
Martello tower no 5 at Folkestone School for Girls is a defensive coastal fortification built during the Napoleonic Wars, specifically constructed between 1808 and 1810 as part of the extensive chain of Martello towers erected along the Kent and Sussex coasts. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1017172.
Martello tower no 5 at Folkestone School for Girls is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1017172.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Sandgate Castle (0.4 km), Martello tower no 7, Sandgate, Folkestone (0.9 km), Martello tower no 9, Sandgate, Folkestone (1.8 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Martello tower no 5 at Folkestone School for Girls's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Martello tower no 5 at Folkestone School for Girls stands on Lower Greensand Group, bedrock that formed in the Albian. The rock here is sandstone and mudstone.