Noirmont tower

Noirmont Tower

At the foot of the cliff at Noirmont Point, this Martello style tower is properly known as Tour de Vinde. It was probably built between 1810 and 1814, although some sources suggest that it might have been completed by 1811, when it was included on a map of Jersey's defences

Defences old and newer: Tour de Vinde at the bottom of the cliff on the left, overlooked by a German bunker

HER record

Along with all Jersey's other coastal towers and historic fortifications it is a listed building, described as follows in the Jersey Heritage Historic Environment Record website: The tower is significant as an integral part of a group of surviving Martello-type towers in Jersey that illustrates the changing political and strategic military history of the Island in the early 19th century.

A variant of the 'Martello' designed by Royal Engineers in England was adopted in Jersey. Three small towers were constructed between 1808-1811 on islets off the south coast at Portelet, Noirmont and Icho. More towers were planned for the coasts around St Helier, but were not built.

Noirmont Tower, also known as La Tour de Vinde, was built on an offshore rocky outcrop below Noirmont Point in 1811. In common with other Martello-type towers, Noirmont was designed primarily for mounting artillery on the roof platform - man 18-pounder traversing gun. It has a characteristic Martello profile - squat and robust with a battered outer wall of dressed granite. There are no loopholes and very few other openings, the very thick walls themselves providing the main defence.

The first floor door faces landward, and has a specially profiled threshold to enable the original entrance ladder to be withdrawn from above. Inside there is a bombproof vault designed to protect the accommodation for gunners and the small garrison on the main floor. Below the door on the north-east side of the tower is an additional circular stone platform with an encircling defensive wall of dressed granite, with a single gateway leading down to the rocky outcrop below.

The tower is now painted with in black and white hoops as a navigation aid and also houses a navigation beacon.