Martello Tower
Hackness Martello Tower and Battery is a scheduled ancient monument and one of the northernmost Martello towers ever constructed, standing guard over the inlet of Longhope Sound on the southern shore of Hoy in Orkney, Scotland. The site consists of two distinct defensive structures built in close proximity: the cylindrical Martello tower itself, rising to around 12 metres in height, and an adjacent shore battery with gun emplacements designed to deliver overlapping fields of fire across the Sound. Together they represent a remarkably complete example of Napoleonic-era coastal defence architecture, made all the more extraordinary by their remote northern location — far from the English Channel coastline where Martello towers are more commonly associated. Their survival in relatively good condition, combined with their historical significance, makes them one of the most compelling heritage sites in Orkney.
The towers were constructed between 1813 and 1815 by the British Admiralty, prompted by a very specific strategic threat. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy used Longhope Sound as a crucial anchorage for convoys assembling before making the hazardous passage through the Pentland Firth. American privateers, emboldened by the War of 1812, were raiding British merchant shipping with alarming success, and the convoys gathering at Longhope were vulnerable. The battery and tower at Hackness were built on the eastern end of the channel, while a companion Martello tower was erected simultaneously at Crockness on the western end, so that the two installations could deliver crossfire to deny any hostile vessel safe passage. By the time they were completed, the war with America had ended and Napoleon had been defeated, meaning the defences never fired a shot in anger — a fate shared with many of Britain's Martello towers.
Physically, Hackness Martello Tower is a handsome and imposing structure built from local sandstone, with walls of exceptional thickness — particularly on the seaward side — designed to absorb cannon fire. The round tower tapers slightly as it rises, with a flat roof originally intended to mount artillery. Small gun loops and windows punctuate the walls, and the entrance is set at first-floor level, accessible historically only by a removable ladder, a classic feature intended to make the tower difficult to storm. The adjoining battery is a lower, more elongated structure with gun platforms still visible, arranged to maximise the arc of fire across the water. Standing among these structures, the sense of solidity and permanence is striking, and the scale of the stonework conveys the seriousness with which the Admiralty took the threat to the convoy anchorage.
The setting is spectacular even by Orkney's high standards. Hackness sits at the southern tip of Hoy, looking across Longhope Sound toward the island of South Walls, a sliver of land connected to Hoy by a tombolo. The landscape here is broad and elemental — rolling moorland meets rocky shoreline, the sky dominates everything, and the quality of light shifts constantly with the famously changeable Orkney weather. The sound of wind off the Pentland Firth is almost ever-present, and on clear days the views extend over open water to the Scottish mainland. Longhope itself has further historical resonance, as it was home to one of Scotland's most celebrated lifeboat stations, the subject of a devastating tragedy in 1969 when the Longhope lifeboat TGB was lost with all eight crew during a rescue attempt.
Hoy is one of the most distinctive of the Orkney islands, characterised by dramatic hills and moorland unlike the flatter agricultural landscapes of the Orkney Mainland. The Old Man of Hoy, the iconic 137-metre sea stack, lies further to the northwest and is a famous destination for climbers and walkers. The island also contains Dwarfie Stane, a Neolithic rock-cut tomb of unique character in Britain, and the valley of Rackwick, considered one of the most beautiful and remote in Orkney. This combination means that a trip to Hoy to see Hackness can sit naturally within a broader day or multi-day exploration of the island's varied historical and natural attractions.
Getting to Hackness requires taking a ferry to Hoy, with Orkney Ferries operating services from Houton on the Orkney Mainland to Lyness, the main settlement on the island, and also a passenger ferry from Stromness to Moaness in the north of Hoy. From Lyness, Hackness is reached by road, travelling south through South Walls — the causeway connecting Hoy to South Walls makes it straightforward to reach by car or bicycle. The site is maintained by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument and is freely accessible to visitors. There are no visitor facilities on site and the interior of the tower is not normally accessible to the public, but the exterior, battery walls, and immediate surroundings can be explored. Summer months offer the most reliable weather and the longest daylight hours, but autumn visits have a compelling bleakness that suits the martial character of the place.
One of the more fascinating footnotes to Hackness's history is that it stands as one of only four Martello towers ever built in Scotland — contrasting sharply with the chain of more than one hundred constructed along the coasts of southern England and Ireland. This rarity gives the Orkney towers an unusual significance within the broader story of British coastal defence. The towers were also among the very last Martello towers to be built anywhere in the world before the design was rendered obsolete by advances in artillery. There is something quietly poignant about structures of such confident military engineering, erected at great expense and effort in one of Britain's most remote island groups, never having been tested in the purpose for which they were so carefully designed.