KINGSTON LIVING Murney Tower

Murney Tower

BY ANDREW HIND PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF PARKS CANADA Four stout towers, bastions of the former British Empire, ring Kingston’s waterfront. Known as Martello Towers, they are a reminder of times when our neighbour to the south was occasionally less than friendly.

Murney Tower’s military days are behind it. Today it’s a museum, the oldest in Kingston.

Kingston’s Martello towers have immense historic significance. Of the four, Murney Tower is open to the public as a living history museum. Step through the entrance in the thick limestone walls and be transported back to the mid-19th century. Murney Tower was built as part of a series of fortifications that were constructed in Kingston in response to the Oregon Crisis. War between Britain and the United States almost erupted when American President James K. Polk insisted that his nation had sole ownership over Oregon Territory, which was then shared between the United States and British North America. As tensions rose, Britain recognized the vulnerability of Kingston, which held a strategically important location at the confluence of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, a major shipping route and gateway to the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean. In response to the threat of American attack, a series of fortifications were built around Kingston in 1846, including Murney Tower and three sister towers - Fort Frederick, Shoal Tower, and Cathcart Tower. These represent rare Canadian examples of a Martello Tower; a total of 14 were built in Canada, the remainder in Quebec and the Maritimes. Only nine survive. Martello Towers are squat, round towers whose thick limestone walls were considered fireproof and bombproof. Murney Tower features some key differences from the typical Martello structure as seen across the British Empire. Most Martello Towers lack roofs, but in the harsh Canadian winters this was considered impractical, so a wooden roof was added to shelter the gunners. The gun platform of a typical Martello Tower was clover-leaf shaped to house three guns. In contrast, the gun platform in Murney Tower is circular to hold two cannons: a 24-pounder and a 32-pounder. Only one, a 32-pounder cannon, was ever installed and it remains at the Tower today. But the Tower was more than an artillery emplacement. Inside, there are two other levels, one with sleeping berths for almost two dozen soldiers and the other, a basement, for storage. Extending from the basement are four ‘caponiers,’ essentially wings that extend out from the Tower. Each one is studded with rifle loopholes through which soldiers could fire upon attacking infantry. The Tower, built in less than five months, also featured a cistern for catching rainwater so that the garrison could hold out in the event of a siege. >>

Operated by Parks Canada, Murney Tower is a National Historic Site.

Murney Tower never saw a shot fired. Instead, from 1848 to 1870, it served as a barracks for soldiers and their families. Later, the Canadian militia assumed responsibility for the fortification and used it until 1885.

Today, Murney Tower houses the oldest museum in Kingston; opened in 1925 under the stewardship of the Kingston Historical Society, it houses more than 1,000 artifacts.

The largest artifact is the tower itself. In 1930 it was designated a National Historic Site of Canada and – in conjunction with the Rideau Canal and Kingston fortifications as an entirety – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

murneytower.com 2 King Street West, Kingston, Ontario Phone: 613 507 5181