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The Wish Tower is a Martello tower constructed during the Napoleonic Wars, forming part of the extensive coastal defence system built along the Sussex coast between 1804 and 1812. Tower No. 73 in the national sequence, it stands at Eastbourne and exemplifies the standardised design of these circular brick structures, built to resist artillery bombardment and accommodate small garrisons with cannon. The tower was one of over one hundred such fortifications erected across southern England as a precaution against French invasion during the period of heightened military threat. Today the Wish Tower remains a well-preserved example of early nineteenth-century military architecture and continues to serve as a notable landmark in the Eastbourne seafront landscape.
The Wish Tower: martello tower no 73 is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1017357. View the official record →
The Wish Tower is a Martello tower constructed during the Napoleonic Wars, forming part of the extensive coastal defence system built along the Sussex coast between 1804 and 1812. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1017357.
The Wish Tower: martello tower no 73 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 1017357.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bowl barrow 200m south-east of Well Combe (2 km), Bowl barrow and adjacent double bowl barrow E of Pashley (2.1 km), Bowl barrow 150m south of Well Combe (2.1 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of The Wish Tower: martello tower no 73'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.
The Wish Tower: martello tower no 73 stands on Gault Formation And Upper Greensand Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Cenomanian. The rock here is mudstone, sandstone and limestone.