A HISTORIC seafront fortress was not only part of the country’s 19th century defences – it was also the birthplace and childhood home to a Clacton woman.

Eileen Golding, aged 92, remembers a Martello tower as her first home where she spent more than a decade growing up with parents Thomas and Gertrude Maskell in the early 20th century.

The Grade II-listed Tower E, in Hastings Avenue, Clacton, was built as part of a chain of 29 towers between 1808 and 1812 to protect the coast from invasion during the Napoleonic Wars.

But in 1919, Eileen’s parents moved into the tower when her father was promoted to manager of the West Clacton Estate before it became part of Butlin’s Holiday Camp.

Eileen said: “Living in the tower came with my father’s new position and my parents managed to make it into a home.”

Five years after Eileen’s parents moved into the tower, her mother became pregnant at the age of 49 and gave birth to Eileen inside the fort.

“There was only a tiny hospital in Clacton at the time so my mother had to give birth to me in the tower,” said Eileen.

“As there was no transport my father had to run and get the local doctor to come down to me.

“People would panic if that happened at home now.”

Martello towers stand 40ft tall with masonry walls which are about 8ft thick, making them resistant to cannon fire.

Entry to the first and only floor was a 20-step climb from ground level up steep stairs to a door made of solid iron.

Inside Eileen’s home were two bedrooms and two sitting room areas situated around an internal drainage system that cut down the centre of the tower.

The structure had four small windows, and two open fireplaces to heat the building.

Eileen said: “It was very dark inside so electric light was on all the time for me, but when my parents first moved in they had to use oil lamps.”

Reminiscing on her childhood memories, Eileen said she used to have friends stay over and tell ghost stories at night.

“I think I told the worst ones as I remember scaring everybody, but to me the tower wasn’t scary at all – it was my home,” she said.

Eileen and her parents decorated the tower every Christmas as they prepared to welcome up to 18 relatives from Essex and Kent.

Their guests joined them for Christmas dinner and stayed overnight in the tower.

More visitors would arrive on Boxing Day.

Eileen recalls coming back to the tower after playing outside with friends on Boxing Day morning to see almost a dozen bicycles parked outside.

She said: “The bicycles belonged to the local police and they used to come and visit for a midday drink.

“They thought it was alright to have a quick one to warm themselves up.”

Living by the beach, Eileen would swim in the sea no matter what the weather.

Even in winter her father would call out “ten minutes” across the tower and Eileen knew it was time to throw on her swimming costume, run out of the front door and leap into the sea.

“Growing up I was always on the beach and my father and I were in the water all the time, during the summer and the winter,” she said “I didn’t ever take any notice of the cold.

“My father had done it all of his life and he expected me to.

“Although, in the winter we just went for a quick dip.”

Eileen’s fondest memories of her childhood in the tower are of her little black dog Jack, who followed her everywhere.

“I was only allowed to go so far into the sea when Jack was around because if I went too far he would start barking at me,” she said.

“He was a wonderful little thing.”

The Martello tower was home for 12 years before Eileen and her parents had to pack their belongings and move out when it was bought by Butlin’s as part of the new holiday camp.

They left the historic fort on September 22, 1936, and settled into a new home in Vicarage Gardens.

Almost 80 years later, Eileen still lives in Clacton.

She said: “If my friends and I ever get to go past the tower nowadays, I knock on the wall and say ‘hello house’.”

Eileen would like to see money being raised to preserve Martello towers.

She said: “These towers are part of our heritage and I would like to see them kept in good condition for future generations to see.”