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Martello towers are small defensive forts built at the time of the Napoleonic Wars. The model for the towers, built by the British in several places around the world, was a round fortress at Mortella Point in Corsica, which, in 1794, had beaten off the attack of two British Warships, HMS Fortitude [74 guns] and HMS Juno [32 guns] but was eventually defeated by land based forces after two days of heavy fighting. The British were impressed by the effectiveness of the tower, sketches and plans were subsequently used in 1803 by a military engineer, Captain William Ford, to propose a chain of such structures to defend the South Coast against possible invasion.One Martello tower, in Mauritius, nearby the La Preneuse public beach in Tamarin, has been restored by the Friends of the Environment and operates as a museum open for visitors. The original entrance to the tower is raised above ground, and a new entrance has been constructed at ground level.
