‘Napoleonic Home Front’ Exhibition at Jaywick Martello Tower

‘Napoleonic Home Front’ Exhibition at Jaywick Martello Tower

 On the evening of 11^th July over 30 guests, including Cllr Mick Page and visitors from France and Belgium, were welcomed to Jaywick Martello Tower by members of the 95^th rifles re-enactors.

They were attending the launch of a new exhibition at Jaywick Martello Tower which was built at a time when Britain was fearful of invasion from France, under the leadership of the Emperor Napoleon. The exhibition tells how the threat of invasion, and the accompanying militarisation, impacted the lives of people in the Tendring peninsula.  The story is told through an exciting combination of information boards, videos, period music, objects, interactive games, and models.

During the launch event, the guests were entertained by the Riotous Assembly group.  Through music and readings, they evoked the difficult social and economic conditions during and after the Napoleonic wars,  that lead to riots and machine breaking.

The exhibition will be at Jaywick from 13^th July until 8^th September, and after that will be offered to other venues in the area. The exhibition forms part of the Walls and Gardens project which is funded through the European Union’s Interreg IVA funding programme. This brings together 22 partners from Belgium, France, the Netherlands, and the UK.  The partners are working together to improve the preservation of fortified towns and sites as well as their surrounding landscapes promotion.

Please see the What’s On page of the Jaywick Martello Tower website (http://jaywickmartellotower.org/) for further information.   Alternatively, please contact Kerith Ririe on 01255 822783 or [email protected]