Watchtower

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Watchtower (fortification)
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A watchtower on the Great Wall of China
Saint Thomas Tower in Marsaskala, Malta

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

A reconstruction of a Roman Watchtower in Germany

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

Asir mountains.[7] Furthermore, in Najd, a watchtower, called "Margab", was used to watch for approaching enemies far in distance and shout calling warnings from atop.[8]

Scotland saw the construction of

Peel towers[9] that combined the function of watchtower with that of a keep[10] or tower house[11]
that served as the residence for a local notable family.

Għallis Tower, one of the 13 de Redin towers in Malta

Mediterranean countries, and

Barbary pirates.[12]

Great Tower Neuwerk built 1310 by Hamburg, Germany

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

by 1310 to protect its trading routes. They also claimed customs at the watchtower protecting the passage.

Han dynasty watchtower near Dunhuang, Gansu, China

Some notable examples of military Mediterranean watchtowers include the towers that the

Grand Master, such as Martin de Redin
, that commissioned each series.

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

Jersey Round Towers[17] and the Guernsey loophole towers[18]
date from the late 18th century. They were erected to give warning of attacks by the French.

The

]

Modern warfare

.

In

counter-insurgency wars to maintain a military presence in conflict areas in case such as by the French Army in French Indochina, by the British Army and the RUC in Northern Ireland and the IDF in Gaza and West Bank.[citation needed
]

Non-military watchtowers

Non-military watchtower, used as a lamp post to illuminate during the night, at Banashankari temple, Karnataka, India

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

Susiluoto Coast Guard Station watch tower in Kustavi, Finland

References

  1. , p. 239.
  2. ^ "obituary:Brian Dobson". DailY Telegraph. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
  3. ^ "Sunken Ruins of Alexandria Will Be World's First Underwater Museum". Earthables. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Timelines TV Interactive video timeline of British history with section on medieval manors.
  7. ^ The New Encyclopædia Britannica. 1998. "Asir." 15th edition. Volume 1, "Micropedia". p. 635.
  8. – via Google Books.
  9. ^ "Peel Towers, the name given to fortresses of the moss-troopers on the Scottish border". p. 490.
  10. ^ Dixon, Philip. (2002) "The Myth of the Keep," in Meirion-Jones, Impey and Jones (ed) (2002). p. 9.
  11. (reissue of Castles: a short history of fortification from 1600 B.C. to A.D. 1600; London: Heinemann, 1939)
  12. ^ Debono, Charles. "Coastal Towers". Mellieha.com. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  13. ^ "Malta's coastal watch towers". MaltaUncovered.com. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  14. Ħamrun
    : PEG Ltd: 33.
  15. ^ "سر تسمية صفاقس". تاريخ صفاقس (in Arabic). Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  16. ^ "Jersey Round Tower number 1:: Grid WV7046 :: Geograph Channel Islands - photograph every grid square!". Channel-islands.geographs.org. Retrieved 2012-10-03.
  17. . pp. 83-87.
  18. ^ Abram, David (2003) The Rough Guide to Corsica Rough Guides. p. 103.
  19. ^ History of Fort Denison Archived 2014-08-25 at the Wayback Machine at official website. Accessed 27 March 2013

External links