So…the guy who has spent his life at sea; who has probably seen more lighthouses than you can shake a stick at; whose schema should be built around maritime imagery really; and who is currently on a ship, sees a painting of a lighthouse, and his first thought is grain tower?

Built as a defence to potential French invasion, the original oval tower was built of coursed of granite ashlar stone. It was subsequently altered and expanded during WW1, acting as one end of a boom defence stretching across the Medway to Sheerness. The massive iron chain from the boom is still present, wrapped around the base of the tower. For WW2 the tower was altered to cater for more modern guns, necessitating the addition of the fire direction tower and a barracks block on stilts to one side of the tower.

There’s a walkway to the tower, which is exposed at low tide, though it’s broken up in places, and covered with mud and seaweed. And no, we didn’t venture out, though we saw a couple returning along the walkway. Two of the photos are from Wikipedia. Should you want to know more about the Tower and see inside, then Jarrelook has the photos.