Wellington Front

Last updated

Wellington Front
Part of Fortifications of Gibraltar
Line Wall Curtain, Line Wall Road, Gibraltar
Gibraltar - Wellington Front Right Bastion.jpg
Wellington Front Right (North) Bastion
Gibraltar location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Wellington Front
Coordinates 36°08′13″N5°21′16″W / 36.136932°N 5.354516°W / 36.136932; -5.354516
Type Demi-bastions, Curtain wall
Site information
Owner Government of Gibraltar
Open to
the public		Yes
ConditionUnkept
Site history
Built1840
Built by Government of the United Kingdom
Materials Limestone
Concrete

Wellington Front is a fortification in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It was built in 1840 on a site established by the Spanish in 1618.

History

Wellington Front is a long stretch of curtain wall that forms part of the Line Wall Curtain. It stands on the site of the old city wall built during the Moorish period and subsequently modified by the Spanish and British. The Moorish wall had significant weaknesses which were pointed out as early as 1770, notably the fact that it had no advanced works to protect it from being bombarded or assaulted. These problems were tackled during the 1840s when Prince Albert's and Wellington Front were built to straighten and strengthen the line of the curtain wall. [1]

The British proposed in 1826 to add a large bastion to the front but did not take the plan forward. [2] In 1840, Major-General John Thomas Jones arrived to inspect the defences of Gibraltar. [3] Jones advised on improvements for Gibraltar's fortifications including Parson's Lodge Battery [4] and Wellington Front, which was named after the Duke of Wellington. [5] The front was subsequently redesigned to mount heavy guns behind a curtain wall bounded by two demi-bastions. [2] The demi-bastions were constructed on the sites of old Spanish platforms; the north one used to be the Plataforma de San Diego and the south one the Plataforma de San Francisco. [6] Casemated accommodation was also built along the front to enable troops to shelter in relative safety. [2]

Wellington Front was one of the last of Gibraltar's fortifications to be built by convict labour. 900 convicts were involved in its construction while they were housed in a prison ship called HMS Owen Glendower which was docked at Gibraltar Harbour. It was later estimated that local labour was cheaper, more productive [7] and they could legally work for longer hours than British convicts.

The front was rearmed in the late 1850s with seven 68-pdrs. By 1863 it mounted six 68-pdrs., four 32-pdrs. and four-8-inch SB guns to provide flank defence. These were replaced in 1878 by a single 12.5-inch rifled muzzle loader (RML) gun weighing 36 tons – one of six brought to Gibraltar in 1877 – that was protected by an iron shield. [2] The gun has since been removed, but its emplacement is still clearly visible on top of the face of the front's right bastion. [8]

Related Research Articles

Ravelin

A ravelin is a triangular fortification or detached outwork, located in front of the innerworks of a fortress. Originally called a demi-lune, after the lunette, the ravelin is placed outside a castle and opposite a fortification curtain.

Line Wall Curtain

The Line Wall Curtain is a defensive curtain wall that forms part of the fortifications of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar.

Hesses Demi Bastion

Hesse's Demi Bastion is a demi-bastion in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is part of the Northern Defences of Gibraltar. The bastion forms a link in a chain of fortifications which ascend the lower north-west slopes of the Rock of Gibraltar, below the King's Lines Battery and Bombproof Battery. The Moorish Castle's Tower of Homage is at the top of the same incline.

Jumpers Bastion

Jumper's Bastion may refer to one of two adjacent bastions in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. They were both created in 1785 on the sites of previous constructions and named for a British Captain who was one on the first on shore during the Capture of Gibraltar in 1704.

Buena Vista Barracks and Battery

Buena Vista Battery was an artillery battery near the Buena Vista Barracks at the southern end of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located on a slight ridge in front of the nearby Buena Vista Barracks, which was once the base of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment.

Europa Batteries

The Europa Batteries are a group of artillery batteries in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Facing the North African coast, they are the most southerly batteries in Gibraltar and were built to cover ships approaching from the Mediterranean Sea. They run along the fortified clifftops of Europa Point from Camp Bay on the west side of the Rock of Gibraltar to the Europa Advance Batteries on the east side.

Jones Battery

Jones' Battery is one of the best preserved of the "retired" artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It was named after Sir John Thomas Jones who once controlled the fortifications here.

Zoca Flank Battery

Zoca Flank Battery is an artillery battery on the west side of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar.

Alexandra Battery

Alexandra Battery is a coastal artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It was constructed at the neck of the South Mole to enfilade the coastal fortifications of Gibraltar. The battery stood on the site of several previous fortifications; it was built over the New Mole Battery, which was itself constructed on the site of an old Spanish fort in front of the Tuerto Tower.

Hutment Battery is an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar.

Woodfords Battery

Woodford's Battery was an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located at Europa Flats between the Defensible Barracks and the Officer's Barracks and Eliott's Battery.

Fortifications of Gibraltar

The fortifications of Gibraltar have made the Rock of Gibraltar and its environs "probably the most fought over and most densely fortified place in Europe, and probably, therefore, in the world", as Field Marshal Sir John Chapple has put it. The Gibraltar peninsula, located at the far southern end of Iberia, has great strategic importance as a result of its position by the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. It has repeatedly been contested between European and North African powers and has endured fourteen sieges since it was first settled in the 11th century. The peninsula's occupants – Moors, Spanish, and British – have built successive layers of fortifications and defences including walls, bastions, casemates, gun batteries, magazines, tunnels and galleries. At their peak in 1865, the fortifications housed around 681 guns mounted in 110 batteries and positions, guarding all land and sea approaches to Gibraltar. The fortifications continued to be in military use until as late as the 1970s and by the time tunnelling ceased in the late 1960s, over 34 miles (55 km) of galleries had been dug in an area of only 2.6 square miles (6.7 km2).

Kings Lines

The King's Lines are a walled rock-cut trench on the lower slopes of the north-west face of the Rock of Gibraltar. Forming part of the Northern Defences of the fortifications of Gibraltar, they were originally created some time during the periods when Gibraltar was under the control of the Moors or Spanish. They are depicted in a 1627 map by Don Luis Bravo de Acuña, which shows their parapet following a tenaille trace. The lines seem to have been altered subsequently, as maps from the start of the 18th century show a more erratic course leading from the Landport, Gibraltar's main land entrance, to the Round Tower, a fortification at their western end. A 1704 map by Johannes Kip calls the Lines the "Communication Line of the Round Tower".

Queens Lines

The Queen's Lines are a set of fortified lines, part of the fortifications of Gibraltar, situated on the lower slopes of the north-west face of the Rock of Gibraltar. They occupy a natural ledge which overlooks the landward entrance to Gibraltar and were an extension to the north-east of the King's Lines. They run from a natural fault called the Orillon to a cliff above the modern Laguna Estate, which stands on the site of the Inundation, an artificial lake created to obstruct landward access to Gibraltar. The Prince's Lines run immediately behind and above them on a higher ledge. All three of the Lines were constructed to enfilade attackers approaching Gibraltar's Landport Front from the landward direction.

Ragged Staff Flank is a masonry fortification on the South Front of Gibraltar's fortifications. It continues the line of the South Bastion's seaward face across the South Front ditch, then turns to form a flanking position facing south along the coastal fortifications leading to the New Mole. The Ragged Staff Gates were situated in the middle of the flank, leading to the Ordnance Wharf that was located where the Dockyard North Gate used to stand. A defended enclosure stood behind the gate, secured by the Ragged Staff Guardhouse. The flank position had three embrasures in its parapet but only mounted two 24-pdr guns in 1779, though these were replaced by 32-pdrs under the rearmament plan of 1859.

Prince Alberts Front

Prince Albert's Front is a curtain wall that formerly comprised part of the seafront fortifications of Gibraltar. It runs between the King's Bastion and Orange Bastion. The Front was constructed in 1842 after a report by Major General Sir John Thomas Jones recommended improving Gibraltar's seafront defences to guard against the threat of an amphibious assault. It was named after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's prince consort. The Front straightened out the line of Gibraltar's coastal curtain wall; parts of the original curtain wall, some of which dates from the Moorish period over 500 years ago, can still be seen.

Princes Lines

The Prince's Lines are part of the fortifications of Gibraltar, situated on the lower slopes of the north-west face of the Rock of Gibraltar. They are located at a height of about 70 feet (21 m) on a natural ledge above the Queen's Lines, overlooking the landward entrance to Gibraltar, and run from a natural fault called the Orillon to a cliff at the southern end of the isthmus linking Gibraltar with Spain. The lines face out across the modern Laguna Estate, which stands on the site of the Inundation, an artificial lake created to obstruct landward access to Gibraltar. They were constructed to enfilade attackers approaching Gibraltar's Landport Front from the landward direction.

Retrenched Barracks

The Retrenched Barracks was a fortified barracks located at Windmill Hill in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It stands to the north of the southern tip of Gibraltar, Europa Point, which was long felt to be potentially vulnerable to a surprise attack from the sea and was heavily fortified with gun batteries, perimeter walls and scarped cliffs.

Victoria Battery

Victoria Battery was an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It was built in the 1840s on top of the earlier Princess of Wales Batteries following a report by Major-General Sir John Thomas Jones on Gibraltar's defences. The battery was located on the west side of Gibraltar and was one of a number of "retired" batteries in the territory, constructed to improve the coastal defences between Europa Point and the town.

References

  1. ↑ Hughes, Quentin; Migos, Athanassios (1995). Strong as the Rock of Gibraltar. Exchange Publications. pp. 291–2.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hughes, Quentin; Migos, Athanassios (1995). Strong as the Rock of Gibraltar. Exchange Publications. p. 375.
  3. ↑ Vetch, R. H. (1892). "Jones, Sir John Thomas, first baronet (1783–1843), army officer". Dictionary of National Biography Vol. XXX. Smith, Elder & Co. Retrieved 1 August 2012.The first edition of this text is available at Wikisource:  "Jones, John Thomas"  . Dictionary of National Biography . London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  4. ↑ "Parsons Lodge". gibraltar.gi. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  5. ↑ Fa, Darren; Finlayson, Clive (2006). The Fortifications of Gibraltar 1068–1945. Osprey Publishing. p. 32. ISBN   978-1-84603-016-1 . Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  6. ↑ Fa, Darren; Finlayson, Clive (2006). The Fortifications of Gibraltar 1068–1945. Osprey Publishing. p. 21. ISBN   978-1-84603-016-1 . Retrieved 10 March 2013.
  7. ↑ City Walls, Gates and Fortifications, visitgibraltar.gi. Retrieved 12 March 2013
  8. ↑ Hughes, Quentin; Migos, Athanassios (1995). Strong as the Rock of Gibraltar. Exchange Publications. p. 377.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.