![]() If the structure was of timber, usually the upper storey would project outward from the lower so the upper storey defenders could fire on enemies attacking the lower storey, or perhaps pour water on any fires. ![]() They were usually two or even three floors, with all storeys being provided with embrasures or loopholes, and the uppermost storey would be roofed. īlockhouses may be made of masonry where available, but were commonly made from very heavy timbers, sometimes even logs arranged in the manner of a log cabin. But from the Age of Exploration to the nineteenth century standard patterns of blockhouses were constructed for defence in frontier areas, particularly South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. Originally blockhouses were often constructed as part of a large plan, to "block" access to vital points in the scheme. ![]() Of the four tour-reduits that were built, only the Vendôme Tower survives today. A few of the redoubts consisted of a single tower-like blockhouse without a platform, and were known as tour-reduits. Surviving redoubts with blockhouses include Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq Redoubt and Briconet Redoubt, both of which have a pentagonal plan. ![]() Many of the redoubts consisted of a pentagonal platform with a rectangular blockhouse at the rear, although a few had semi-circular or rectangular platforms. Surviving batteries include Mistra Battery and Ferretti Battery, which both have two blockhouses, and Saint Mary's Battery and Saint Anthony's Battery, which have a single blockhouse. The blockhouses usually had musketry loopholes, and in some cases were linked together by redans. Many of the batteries consisted of a semi-circular or polygonal gun platform, with one or two blockhouses at the rear. Almost every battery and redoubt had a blockhouse, which served as gun crew accommodation and a place to store munitions. Between 17, dozens of batteries and redoubts were built around the coasts of the Maltese Islands, while a few others were built in the subsequent decades. The last blockhouse of this type was Cromwell's Castle, built in Scilly in 1651.Ĭoastal fortifications in Malta Blockhouse of Westreme Battery, built in 1715–16 in Mellieħa, Maltaīlockhouses were an ubiquitous feature in Malta's coastal fortifications built in the 18th century by the Order of St. Often sited in pairs, the blockhouses were not built to a common design, but usually consisted of a stone tower and bastion or gun platform, which could be semi-circular, rectangular or irregular in shape. They were built to protect important maritime approaches such as the Thames Estuary, the Solent, and Plymouth. The major period of construction was in the maritime defence programmes of Henry VIII between 15. The first known example is the Cow Tower, Norwich, built in 1398, which was of brick and had three storeys with the upper storeys pierced for six guns each. Early blockhouses in England The Henrican blockhouse at Mount Edgcumbe near Plymouth, Devon, which is believed to date from circa 1545Įarly blockhouses were designed solely to protect a particular area by the use of artillery, and they had accommodation only for the short-term use of the garrison. In ancient Greece īlockhouses existed in ancient Greece, for example the one near Mycenae. The term blockhouse is of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Middle Dutch blokhus and 18th-century French blocus (blockade). However, a blockhouse may also refer to a room within a larger fortification, usually a battery or redoubt. A fortification intended to resist these weapons is more likely to qualify as a fortress or a redoubt, or in modern times, be an underground bunker. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive strong point against any enemy that does not possess siege equipment or, in modern times, artillery, air force or cruise missiles. Reconstructed European wooden keep at Saint-Sylvain-d'Anjou, France, has a strong resemblance to a North American western frontier log blockhouseĪ blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. For other uses, see Blockhouse (disambiguation).Ĭompleted in 1750, Fort Edward in Nova Scotia, Canada is the oldest remaining military blockhouse in North America.
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