Martello Tower 1

By the 20th century, soldiers no longer resided in the towers. The Martello Tower 1 was used as a water tower for the Ross Rifle Factory, which produced rifles for the Canadian Army between 1902 and 1917. The buildings adjacent to the tower continued to serve as military storehouses until the 1930s.   

The National Battlefields Commission acquired Martello Tower 1 in 1936 and carried out its restoration. In the early 1940s, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada partnered with the National Battlefields Commission to set up an observatory with a dome atop Martello Tower 1. The observatory remained open to the public until 1962. The sundial, now located near the Edwin-Bélanger Bandstand, commemorates this scientific aspect of the Plains’ history.  

Iconic Landmark of the Plains

Iconic landmarks of the Plains of Abraham, Quebec City’s Martello Towers were built between 1808 and 1812 as the first line of defense for the fortified city.

The structure was used for centuries in the Mediterranean to combat piracy and became very popular when in 1794 a tower situated on Corsica’s Cape Mortella held two Royal Navy ships in check for two days. Impressed with their effectiveness, the British decided to build them along their shore for protection against the French threat. By 1808, they had 73 of them.

In Québec City, mindful of the American threat, without waiting for London’s permission, Governor Craig authorized the construction of four Martello towers on the Quebec promontory, two of them—towers 1 and 2—on the Plains of Abraham. Towers 1, 2 and 3 were started in 1808 and completed in 1810, with tower 4 coming two years later. Although operational in the War of 1812, they remained unproven because Quebec was not attacked during the conflict.

Martello towers were also used in North America to defend the colonies. In all, 16 were built in Canada in the 19th century in Halifax, Québec City, Kingston and Saint John.