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Firestone Bay Artillery Tower dates from the early 1500's, and is one of the oldest complete military buildings on Plymouth's sea front. This tower protected the deep water passage at the North of Plymouth sound, between Drake's Island and the main water front.

Piers Edgecumbe acquired most of the land of the then 'City of Stonehouse' by his marriage to the heiress to the estate - Joan Durnford. He was granted license to improve and fortify the land by Henry VIII in 1539. The tower was one of the fortifications, along with a city wall, to protect Stonehouse from attack by seaborne raiders. The lowest gun-ports in the tower (now blocked) were designed to enable the defenders' cannon to inflict maximum damage on enemy ships.

These improvements and fortifications were a wise precaution. For in 1544 France turned her energies from Spain towards England. Then, in 1588 the tower would have been the only permanent defence against the Spanish Armada.

In the 1660's, Charles II built the Royal Citadel on the Hoe with gun positions pointing at Plymouth and the sea, so the Tower's role began to diminish.

In Worth's 1884 document, ‘The History of Plymouth’ the Artillery Tower was briefly named ‘The Winter Villa’ when it was a police house. It has also been a coastguard station, Ministry of Defence store and a public convenience! Conversion to a restaurant was in 1983. The Artillery Tower is one of the most preserved fortifications of Tudor times. Read our recent review in the Times?