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. Construction of this new battery commenced on the 18th July 1896 and the work was completed on 16th October 1897. The total cost of construction was £598.
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