Duke of Clarence Martello Tower

Duke of Clarence Martello Tower (1796-1877) - A British colonial Martello tower established in 1798 by Prince Edward, fourth son of King George III, in present day Dartmouth, Halifax, Halifax County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Designed by Captain James Straton, Commanding Royal Engineers. Officially named Duke of Clarence's Tower on 20 Oct 1798 for the Duke of Clarence by his brother Prince Edward. Demolished in 1889.

Duke of Clarence Martello Tower History

Part of the Harbor Defense of Halifax.

One of five Martello Towers built for the defense of Halifax Harbor. The towers were mainly designed to provide land side protection for water facing batteries. The five Halifax Harbor Martello Towers were:

Halifax Harbor Martello Towers

Tower	Built	Designed by	Fort	Location	Notes
Prince of Wales Martello Tower	1796	Capt. James Straton		Point Pleasant
Duke of Clarence Martello Tower	1798	Capt. James Straton	Fort Clarence	Dartmouth
Duke of York Martello Tower	1798	Capt. James Straton	York Redoubt
Fort Charlotte Martello Tower	1812	Capt. Gustavus Nicolls	Fort Charlotte (2)	George's Island
Sherbrooke Martello Tower	1814	Col. Gustavus Nicolls		Magruder's Beach on McNab's Island

The Duke of Clarence Tower was built of sandstone to be 35' high, with a diameter of 50'. The walls were 6' thick all the way to the top. The tower was three stories high and could accomodate 164 troops. A seven foot wide, 8 foot deep ditch surrounded the base of the tower.

In 1863-69 the third story was removed and the tower became a barracks and magazine. The tower was demolished in 1889.

Current Status

No remains of the tower.

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Location: Dartmouth, Halifax, Halifax County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Map point not accurate. Maps & Images Lat: 44.640979 Long: -63.535588 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 63'

Recent Blog Posts:

• Oriented.ca - Guarding Halifax – The story of the Martello Tower

Sources:

• Piers, Harry, The Evolution of the Halifax Fortress 1749-1928, The Public Archives of Nova Scotia, 1947, 155 pages, page 105

Links:

• North American Forts - Duke of Clarence Martello Tower

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