Description of Historic Place

The Murney Martello Tower, situated on a grassy berm on an open parkland site, is a massive, circular stone structure with a hipped corrugated metal roof set over a polygonal clapboard-sheathed gun platform. Inclining slightly inwards from base to parapet, the walls are pierced by three round-arched openings fitted with iron shutters and one iron doorway. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Murney Martello Tower is a Classified Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.

Historical Value
The Murney Martello Tower is a very good illustration of the pre-confederation uncertainties of maintaining sovereignty while sharing a border with the United States during a period of rapid and zealous expansion by that country. It represents the pinnacle of Martello design as the advent of rifled artillery halted any further advance or refinement in the type. It is one of ten surviving Martello towers built in Canada by the British between 1796 and 1847 and one of four built in an arc on the Kingston waterfront in the final phase of the city’s fortification.

Architectural Value
The Murney Martello Tower’s form is based on state-of-the-art Martello design and is an excellent example of a strictly functional aesthetic that is refined by subtle features. These features characterize the tower and include: the sloping outer edge of the parapet, the round arches, the caponiers, the varied thickness of wall, and the annular vault within. Its value also resides in its profile and massing, its masonry construction and high quality craftsmanship. Designed by Sir Richard Bonnycastle who was also responsible for four other towers, the Murney Tower is acknowledged to be the most sophisticated in its design.

Environmental Value
The Murney Martello Tower, occupying a prominent position along the Kingston’s waterfront in Macdonald Park is compatible with the historic military and institutional character of the city. Because of its mass and its position, it tends to dominate the area. The area around the tower is a well-used public park, and the building itself houses a museum that attracts many visitors throughout the year. It is a prominent feature on a recreational path along the shore and regular ferry traffic to Wolfe Island and intense recreational boating and board sailing in the area ensure that the tower is also viewed from offshore. The Murney Martello Tower is set within the city and, easily accessible, is an important Kingston landmark.

Sources: Fern Graham, Murney Martello Tower, Macdonald Park, Kingston, Ontario, Federal Heritage Building Report 91-086; Murney Martello Tower, Macdonald Park, Kingston, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement, 91-086.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Murney Martello Tower should be respected.

Its state-of-the-art Martello design and excellent functional aesthetic and high quality craftsmanship as manifested in: its profile and massing consisting of the circular tower sitting on a parapet, with four caponiers projecting into the ditch created by the encircling grassed berm; its polygonal clapboard-sheathed gun platform surmounted by a hipped corrugated metal wood truss roof; the limestone walls which increase in thickness toward the waterfront side ending in a parapet that slopes downward to the waterfront side; its smooth masonry surfaces, iron doorway and three round arched ‘carronade porte’ openings fitted with iron shutters; its interior double vaulted circular chamber supported by a central stone pier and containing timber floor and restored brick and limestone walls and ceilings and a hearth; its cellar with brick and limestone storerooms and the four projecting caponiers that are accessed by vaulted passageways; the circular stone floor surrounded by a stepped-up banquette and the parapet.

The manner in which the Murney Martello Tower is compatible with the historic military and institutional character of the city in its waterfront park setting.

Heritage Character Statement

Disclaimer - The heritage character statement was developed by FHBRO to explain the reasons for the designation of a federal heritage building and what it is about the building that makes it significant (the heritage character). It is a key reference document for anyone involved in planning interventions to federal heritage buildings and is used by FHBRO in their review of interventions.

The Murney Martello Tower was built in 1846. Its design was supervised by Sir Richard Bonnycastle of the Royal Engineers. It was armed in 1861-62, received its first detachable roof in 1867, saw an addition to the top part of the counterscarp wall c. 1900, and underwent a major program of repairs in 1933-36. Parks Canada is the custodian. See FHBRO Building Report 91-86.

Reasons for Designation

The Murney Martello Tower was designated Classified because of its architectural and engineering importance, its significance in the local environment and its historical associations.

The Murney Martello Tower, in several aspects the epitome of the martello tower, represents the pinnacle of martello design as the advent of rifled artillery halted any further advance or refinement in the type. It is one of ten surviving martellos built in Canada by the British between 1796 and 1847 and one of four built in an arc on the Kingston waterfront in 1846-7, the final phase of the fortification of the city.

Built of Kingston limestone, the tower's design includes projecting caponiers at the foundations, the parabolic arches on the walls, the constant slope of the edge of the parapet, and the bomb-proof ring-shaped vault within. Provisions for water collection and storage, sanitation, ventilation and storage of arms and food were integrated into the plan, making the tower a self-contained fortress for the presiding officer and 24 men.

The tower commands its site in Macdonald Park and occupies a prominent position along the Kingston waterfront.

Character Defining Elements

The heritage value of the Murney Martello Tower resides in its masonry construction, interior configuration and details, surrounding earthworks and open site.

The tower's form is based on state-of-the-art martello design. The profile and massing, consisting of the tower with four caponiers projecting into the ditch created by the encircling grassed berm, must be respected. The walls, which increase in thickness toward the waterfront side, are pierced by three round-arched "carronade porte" openings, fitted with iron shutters and one iron doorway. The stone walls end in a parapet which slopes downward to the waterfront side. Above the stone walls, a polygonal clapboard-sheathed gun platform rises. A hipped corrugated metal roof surmounts the tower.

The building's smooth masonry surfaces are character-defining. The wood truss roof is tied together by iron tie rods. Prior to any repair or restoration, detailed documentation of all known interventions should be compiled and analyzed, and appropriate structural and masonry conservation expertise consulted.

The interior, which has served as a museum since 1925, should continue to be conserved as a military engineering artifact. A central stone pier supports a double-vaulted circular chamber, 600 square metres in size. The chamber, with timber floor and restored brick and limestone walls and ceiling, originally housed a barracks. A hearth remains in the chamber. Off the chamber are two cannon-occupied carronade portes and one vacant carronade porte. In the cellar, there are brick and limestone storerooms and four caponiers which are accessed by vaulted passageways. A narrow half-spiral stone staircase leads to the gun platform in the upper level. In the middle of the gun platform's circular stone floor is a revolving artillery piece. The floor is surrounded by a stepped-up stone banquette and the parapet.

The Murney Martello Tower enjoys an open parkland site with unobstructed views to the water; the latter relates to the strategic and functional character of this military site. Any development that would have an impact on viewplanes from the tower should be resisted.