Initially armed with two 32-pdr (1834) it was upgraded to one 56-pdr in 1850 and then in 1859 a single 68-pdr gun was mounted. Based on recommendations made by Colonel W.F.D. Jervois in his 1896 report it was then to mount a single 9-inch RML in an open embrasure that was protected to the front by an iron shield (Gibraltar Shield). The battery was in the end armed with a 10-inch 18 ton RML in 1875. The RML battery had a magazine and associated works, some of which still stand to the rear and below the battery.
This 10-inch RML was to remain in place until 1896 when a three gun 12-pdr 18-cwt Q.F. Battery was built on the site, although heavily modified in World War 2.
During World War 2 a 3.7-inch anti-aircraft Battery was built around this site, with extensive underground works to the rear. Although the iron shield remains, much of the original battery has been lost under a new block of residential flats.
The other 10-inch RML gun batteries in Gibraltar are:
- Engineer Battery, 1 gun
- King’s Bastion, 4 guns
- Montague Bastion,3 guns
- Orange Bastion, 2 guns
- Parson’s Lode (Rosia No.9), 3 guns
- South Bastion, 3 guns
The other 12-pdr 18-cwt gun batteries in Gibraltar were at:
- Buena Vista, 2 guns
- Devil’s Gap Battery, 2 guns
- Engineer Battery, 3 guns
- Montague Bastion, 2 guns
- North Mole Elbow Battery, 2 guns
- Upper Union Gallery, 2 guns
The UK National Archives references
- WO 78/5277