- Cathcart Tower
Cathcart Tower is a
Martello tower located on Cedar Island just off the shore from historicFort Henry inKingston, Ontario Canada . It is one of four such towers built in the 1840s to protect Kingston's harbour and the entrance to theRideau Canal . Built in 1848, this limestone tower is 11 m high and 16,5 m in diameter. [http://www.pc.gc.ca/docs/r/on/rideau/whl-lhm/chap2A4_e.asp] It is surrounded by a shallow ditch and by a glacis extending to the shorelines on three sides. The guns of Cathcart Tower covered the eastern approaches of Kingston Harbour. Their construction was prompted by a dispute betweenGreat Britain and theUnited States over the boundary betweenBritish Columbia andOregon that threatened to lead to war and to the invasion ofCanada . [http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/on/lawren/natcul/natcul1b_e.asp#cathcart] When war was averted, Cathcart Tower was used for a time as a barracks for soldiers garrisoned at nearbyFort Henry . Eventually it was abandoned. It is part of the Kingston Fortifications National Historic Site of Canada and is within the boundaries ofSt. Lawrence Islands National Park . The tower is also classified as a CRM1 resource.[http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/on/lawren/natcul/natcul1b_e.asp#cathcart Parks Canada]
[http://www.pc.gc.ca/docs/r/on/rideau/whl-lhm/chap2A4_e.asp]
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