They don’t make Towers like this one any more.  Although it was built in 1855, some parts of it feel almost medieval.

The main entrance is at first floor level, through a simple doorway.  See the steps to the side?  They really do bend like that.  The reinforcing steels have begun to corrode and the steps have cracked half way up.

Taking a peek inside the entrance revealed dank, dark passageways, stretching off into who knows what.  When we had walked up the causeway to the tower we saw fresh footprints in the sand.  Was anyone else in here?

The answer was no, but for a while we wondered.

Some of the curved passageways and staircases were dripping with atmosphere – you could scrape it off the walls!  It was intensely enjoyable to explore such a magnificent structure!

Even the graffiti seemed to be enjoying itself.

As we wandered through the tower we saw the shell hoist was still in position.  Many of the walls were curved to complement the round walls of the tower.  In the middle of the structure the central pillar supporting the roof fanned out at its top in a similar manner to those found in the Martello Towers.  You can just see it behind the shell hoist.

Points on this walk (copy and paste the co-ordinates into Google Earth):

• Grain Beach Car Park:  N 51° 27.582 E 000° 43.046
  
• Grain Tower:  N 51° 27.089 E 000° 43.869

Walk Statistics:

• Date of Walk: 17 May 2014