Crenellated guardhouse, 1846 model


The crenellated guardhouses of the 1846 model were gun-batteries built along the coast of France as the result of a standardisation of coastal-defence redoubts during the reign of Louis-Philippe of France. This standardisation came as an attempt to complete the defensive chain begun by Napoleon in 1811 with his model towers, left incomplete on his abdication in 1814. A mixed coastal armament commission set up in 1841 defined 3 types of work, known as crenellated guardhouses, crenellated towers and model-redoubt with defensive barracks. Along with the construction of the battleship La Gloire, they represent part of a 20-year trend of French naval and coastal re-armament, to which the United Kingdom eventually responded by building its own steam battleship and its own coastal defence chain during the 1860s.

Crenellated guardhouses

Around 150 crenellated guardhouses were built.

1

This sub-type accommodated 60 men and 12 cannons.

2

This sub-type could house 40 men and 8 cannons.
This sub-type could house 20 men and 4 cannons.
Square in plan, buildings of this size were slightly pyramidical in shape.

1

2

3

This sub-type housed 20 men and had two murder holes sticking out from either side. This sub-type's particular feature was its 4 levels.

Model redoubts with defensive barracks

The model-redoubt is a fort built over a defensive barracks. The barracks is vaulted and thus bomb-proof. Sub-type 1 housed 300 men, and sub-type 2 housed 200 men.