Martello towers are small coastal artillery forts constructed after renewal of war with France in 1803. A total of 103 tower were constructed, those on the south coast were numbered 1-74 and those in Essex and Suffolk were numbered A to Z. These towers were typically circular of near circular in plan and contained three floors and were an average height of 10 metres. They were built of brick and often rendered, and were up to 4 feet thick on the seaward side. The top floor housed cannons and the middle floor served as living quarters for about 25 men. The lower floor houses the ammunition and gun powder.
Martello Tower E was built using 750,000 bricks, was armed with three cannons on the roof and had a five gun battery located close by, which has been lost to coastal erosion.
After the Napoleonic War Tower E became a family house. In 1938 is was re-purposed as a water tower for the Butlins Holiday Camp that was sited here. The holiday camp closed in 1983.