From Fisherman's Beach you can see two of the 74 Martello Towers, which originally stretched along this coast as a deterent against the threatened Napoleonic invasion. They were built in 1805 and their walls vary in thickness from 8 feet on the landward side to 13 feet on the Channel side and are deliber-ately sloped to deflect shot.
The two and a half ton cannon, mounted on the firing platform, could fire a 24lb shot a mile out to sea.
Later, the remaining towers were used to combat smuggling and, in the 20th century, as formidable coastal defences in both World Wars.
