Kingston — Capital, Harbour & Fortifications
Shoal Tower
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Transcript
Shoal Tower stands directly in the harbour, part of the defensive system built in the 1840s when Britain feared renewed conflict with the United States.
It is one of several Martello-style towers constructed around Kingston.
The idea was simple: heavy masonry, artillery and overlapping fields of fire would make an enemy fleet pay dearly for entering the harbour.
The towers were nearly obsolete by the time they were complete because artillery technology was changing rapidly.
That does not make them foolish. Military planners work against possible futures, not known ones.
Parks Canada treats Kingston's fortifications as an integrated system rather than isolated monuments. Shoal Tower makes that easy to understand because it literally occupies the water approach.
Today pleasure boats move around a structure designed to fire cannon at hostile ships.
Few historical transformations are more complete than a gun platform becoming scenery.