Tour des Anglais, Watchtower and former lighthouse on the Pénerf peninsula in Damgan, France
The Tour des Anglais stands on the Pointe du Lenn on the Pénerf peninsula in Damgan, Morbihan. It is a cylindrical tower 15 metres high, built of rendered rubble stone on a truncated cone base about 8.20 metres in diameter and 1.70 metres high, with a three-level upper section 9.20 metres tall. Its one-metre-thick walls are of "pierre de la côte" except around two arrow slits in cut granite, and a one-metre parapet on granite corbels rests on console machicolations.
Built probably in the early 16th century and attested by 1692, the tower served as both a fire tower and a watchtower within a military complex until the early 19th century. It was restored and whitewashed in 1886, and listed as a monument historique on 22 October 1997. It is likely the oldest surviving fire tower with its original architecture on the French Atlantic coast.
The tower was called the Tour Blanche, then the Tour de Pénerf, before taking its present name after 1902. It served as both a fire tower and a watchtower within a military complex until the early 19th century, and since 1886 it has been whitewashed again to act as a sea mark for sailors.
The lighthouse is accessible via marked coastal paths from the Pointe du Dibenn parking area. The terrain is rocky and often windy, so sturdy shoes and weather-appropriate clothing are recommended.
The tower's two gun loops are the only parts built of cut granite; the rest of the one-metre-thick walls use local "pierre de la côte". Its base was restored and repointed in 1978, and the tower was whitewashed as early as 1886, which is why it still serves as a sea mark off the Pointe du Lenn.
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