Tower 3 stands on the cliffs above Copt Point and overlooks the harbour below. From the 1850's, the tower was home to a number of Coast Guards and their families. From 1890's-1905, the Finn family occupied the tower, and were to cause panic in Folkestone on one occasion. The tower had retained its cannon, and after the wedding of a bride who was born in the tower, the cannon was fired 3 times in celebration and a paper balloon released. This caused an invasion scare across Folkestone as word was passed of an aerial attack by the French!1
Another family subsequently lived in the tower until 1914. One former resident remembered chickens being kept on the ground floor!2
The first floor of the tower was later used as a clubhouse for a miniature golf course, and the word 'GOLF' painted in large white letters around the outer wall. This caused controversy in 1934, when a member of the House of Lords publicly stated that the word painted on the tower was an eyesore. Folkestone Town Council promptly had it removed, but one councillor objected to this having been done on the grounds that the Town Council, and not a Lord's opinion, should be the authority on the matter. Having said that, the Council subsequently voted not to reinstate the word!3 The tower is still surrounded by a golf course.
In 1940, the tower was given an extra concrete room on the roof which occupied the sea-facing side of the original gun platform, and part of the parapet coping was removed. A small window looked out across the harbour, and mounted a Hotchkiss machine-gun. A Naval detachment of three officers and nine ratings manned the tower known as 'C.M.O. 77' (Combined Mining Operations) due to the nine mines that could be detonated by remote control from within the tower. A further platform was built on top of the observation post in about 1943, although this was removed after the war.4
Not until 1990 was the tower again used, purchased by Shepway District Council and later opened as the Martello Tower Visitor Centre. During renovation work in 1990, workmen clearing debris from the ground floor found a ramp sloping down into the foundations, leading into a pool of water, which was a natural source of water for the garrison.5
Today the visitor centre houses an exhibition detailing local history and geology, including a World War Two display in the observation post. An interesting exhibit is a copper-lined magazine door from a Martello Tower.
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