Watchtower
A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to provide a high, safe place from which a sentinel or guard may observe the surrounding area. In some cases, non-military towers, such as religious towers, may also be used as watchtowers.
History
Military watchtowers
The Romans built numerous towers as part of a system of communications,[1] one example being the towers along Hadrian's Wall in Britain.[2] Romans built many lighthouses,[3] such as the Tower of Hercules in northern Spain, which survives to this day as a working building,[4] and the equally famous lighthouse at Dover Castle, which survives to about half its original height as a ruin.[5]
In medieval Europe, many castles and manor houses, or similar fortified buildings, were equipped with watchtowers.[6] In some of the manor houses of western France, the watchtower equipped with arrow or gun loopholes was one of the principal means of defense. A feudal lord could keep watch over his domain from the top of his tower.
In southern
Scotland saw the construction of
that served as the residence for a local notable family.Mediterranean countries, and
Similarly, the city state of Hamburg gained political power in the 13th century over a remote island 150 kilometers down the Elbe river estuary to erect the Great Tower Neuwerk
Some notable examples of military Mediterranean watchtowers include the towers that the
The name of Tunisia's second biggest city, Sfax, is the berber-punic translation from the greek "Taphroúria" (Ταφρούρια) meaning watchtower, which may mean that the 9th century Muslim town was built as an extension of what is currently known as the Kasbah, one of the corners of the surviving complete rampart of the medina.[16]
In the Channel Islands, the
date from the late 18th century. They were erected to give warning of attacks by the French.The
Modern warfare
In
Non-military watchtowers
An example of the non-military watchtower in history is the one of Jerusalem. Though the Hebrews used it to keep a watch for approaching armies, the religious authorities forbade the taking of weapons up into the tower as this would require bringing weapons through the temple. Rebuilt by King Herod, that Watchtower was renamed after Mark Antony, his friend who battled against Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later Augustus) and lost.[citation needed]
See also
- Blockhouse
- Diaolou
- Fire lookout tower
- Control towerson airports or harbours.
References
- ISBN 9781107006690, p. 239.
- ^ "obituary:Brian Dobson". DailY Telegraph. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ "Sunken Ruins of Alexandria Will Be World's First Underwater Museum". Earthables. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
- ^ Baldwin, Thomas (17 August 2017). "A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer: Containing Topographical, Statistical, and Other Information, of All the More Important Places in the Known World, from the Most Recent and Authentic Sources". Lindsay & Blakiston – via Google Books.
- ^ Cathcart King, David J. (1983). Catellarium Anglicanum: An Index and Bibliography of the Castles in England, Wales and the Islands. Volume I: Anglesey–Montgomery. Kraus International Publications. p. 230.
- ^ Timelines TV Interactive video timeline of British history with section on medieval manors.
- ^ The New Encyclopædia Britannica. 1998. "Asir." 15th edition. Volume 1, "Micropedia". p. 635.
- ISBN 9780521835831– via Google Books.
- ^ "Peel Towers, the name given to fortresses of the moss-troopers on the Scottish border". p. 490.
- ^ Dixon, Philip. (2002) "The Myth of the Keep," in Meirion-Jones, Impey and Jones (ed) (2002). p. 9.
- ISBN 0-486-24898-4(reissue of Castles: a short history of fortification from 1600 B.C. to A.D. 1600; London: Heinemann, 1939)
- ISBN 978-88-389-0089-1
- ^ Debono, Charles. "Coastal Towers". Mellieha.com. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- ^ "Malta's coastal watch towers". MaltaUncovered.com. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
- Ħamrun: PEG Ltd: 33.
- ^ "سر تسمية صفاقس". تاريخ صفاقس (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-11-14.
- ^ "Jersey Round Tower number 1:: Grid WV7046 :: Geograph Channel Islands - photograph every grid square!". Channel-islands.geographs.org. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
- ISBN 978-0-85052-679-0. pp. 83-87.
- ^ Abram, David (2003) The Rough Guide to Corsica Rough Guides. p. 103.
- ^ History of Fort Denison Archived 2014-08-25 at the Wayback Machine at official website. Accessed 27 March 2013
External links
- Media related to Watch towers at Wikimedia Commons