The Malta Environment and Planning Authority has approved plans to restore the 17th century Torri l-Abjad (white tower) in the l-Aħrax tal-Mellieħa area, with the Mellieħa local council planning to utilise the site as a backdrop for military re-enactments.
The watchtower, whose original name was the Torre di Lacras (Italian for l-Aħrax Tower), was one of the fourteen built by the Order of St John during the reign of Grand Master Martin de Redin. The de Redin towers, as they are collectively known were built between 1658 and 1659, and their design was based on the Sciuta Tower (known as the Ta’ Xutu tower) in Wied iż-Żurrieq, which had been built in 1638 during the reign of Grand Master Giovanni Paolo Lascaris.
They were built to strengthen Malta’s coastal defences, to complement the Lascaris towers and those built earlier in the 17th century during the reign of Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt, as well as a watchtower overlooking Mġarr Harbour in Gozo built in 1605 during the rule of Grand Master Martin Garzez.
The towers were each built in strategic locations which ensured that they had at least two other watchtowers in their line of sight, which allowed for the quick relaying of warning signals – through the use of smoke, cannon shots or fire – across the Maltese islands.
Three of the towers – in Bengħisa, Delimara and the Żonqor area of Marsaskala – were demolished by the British in the early 20th century to clear the line of fire for the fortifications that they had built in the areas. Two others – the Għajn Ħadid tower in Mellieħa, which succumbed to an 1856 earthquake, and the Xrobb l-Għaġin tower – are still visible.
The remaining nine are still intact, although in various states of disrepair. The Triq il-Wiesgħa tower in the limits of Żabbar, between Żonqor and Xgħajra, had partially collapsed before it was restored between 2008 and 2009.
The Aħrax Tower, built in 1658 in the northernmost part of the island of Malta, is the most distinct of the surviving de Redin towers since it was subject to significant additions in 1715, when an artillery battery was built around it. Further additions were built by the British in the 19th century, with the tower originally serving as a naval station before serving as the summer residence of the British governor of Malta for some time.
A pillbox was built nearby in 1903, to help defend the approach to Għadira Bay.
The tower fell was leased to private individuals after World War II, but was left to deteriorate. The lease was terminated and the occupants evicted before the structure was devolved to the Mellieħa local council in 2009.
The local council eventually filed an application to restore the tower and use it as an “ancillary backdrop for military re-enactment” in November 2013.
The case officer assigned recommended the approval of the project, and the Heritage Advisory Committee said that it had no objections to the plans, although its natural panel highlighted that the indigenous trees in the area should be retained.
MEPA’s Environment and Planning Commission, however, postponed its decision last month as concerns regarding its accessibility to people with disability had not been satisfactorily addressed at the time. A permit, however, was finally issued yesterday.
When contacted, Mellieħa mayor John Buttigieg said that the council was aiming to begin restoration next year, hoping to obtain funds from outside sources – including EU funds – to finance the project. The council would then seek to sign a management agreement with an appropriate NGO.
Photo credit: Frank Vincentz