Jersey · JE

Kempt Tower

Kempt Tower is Jersey's largest Martello tower, a squat granite fortress from 1834 perched at the edge of St Ouen's Bay, and today it sleeps twelve guests on a roof terrace that catches 360-degree views of the bay, the sand dunes, and the Atlantic horizon. Built to defend against French invasion and named after Sir James Kempt — one of Wellington's generals at Waterloo — this cam-shaped tower has been a battery, a barracks, an interpretation centre, and now a self-catering holiday let that lets you sleep inside a genuine piece of Jersey's military history while watching the sunset over the beach from the gun platform above. The tower sits within Jersey's National Park on Grande Route des Mielles, a stone's throw from St Ouen's Bay beach where surf schools operate and the wetland nature reserve trails begin. Top restaurants are a short walk along the coast road, and a regular bus service runs right past the front door. It is the kind of place where you arrive for a week of family holidays, spend the mornings paddleboarding in the bay, and the evenings cooking in a vaulted granite kitchen beneath a ceiling that was designed to support cannon.