Fort Saumarez

[1] The Martello tower was constructed on the site of an existing battery in 1804 after the onset of the Napoleonic Wars and during the tenure (1803-1813) of Lieutenant Governor General Sir John Doyle.

Doyle named the tower for the Guernsey native and renowned Royal Navy Captain, Sir James Saumarez, who at the time commanded British naval forces in the Channel Islands.

To simplify matters, Doyle had a local builder named Gray construct the tower, and two others, see below, under the rubric of "fieldworks", thereby bypassing the Ordnance Corps.

[3] Doyle was responsible for substantial fortification efforts elsewhere in Guernsey, including the construction of the two other Martello towers.

Because of its location, Fort Saumarez also served as one of six to ten optical telegraph stations that ringed the coast to give warning of approaching vessels.