Martello Tower is a Grade II* listed building in the East Suffolk local planning authority area, England. First listed on 27 February 1950. Military structure.
Martello Tower
- WRENN ID
- low-loft-larch
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- East Suffolk
- Constituency
- Suffolk Coastal MP: Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 27 February 1950
- Type
- Military structure
- Address
- Martello Tower, Aldeburgh
- OS grid reference
- TM 462 549
- Coordinates
- 52.13754, 1.59779
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Martello Tower in Aldeburgh is a historic structure built between 1808 and 1810 by the Royal Engineers, designed by Colonel Twiss and Captain Ford. It was sold in 1932 and converted into a house, then commandeered in 1940 as a military watch tower, and restored in 1973. The tower is constructed of red brick on a granite plinth, with ashlar dressings, and features a quatrefoil plan surrounded by a deep brick moat. The entrance is located on the west side, set in stone reveals and accessed by an elevated timber walkway. Each of the four lobes of the tower has one ashlar-faced round-headed window. The interior was not inspected. The eastern segment of the moat has been eroded by the sea. This tower is notable for being the most northerly and largest of those built during the Napoleonic War. It is also designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Local climate
Martello Tower sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 720 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 84% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 65% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 9 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 92% of listed buildings. Of these, 5 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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