Gardiner’s Battery was one of the retired batteries proposed by Sir John Jones in his 1841 report and named after General Sir Richard Gardiner, Governor 1848 to 1855. Plans dated from 1849 designate this as the Retired Battery near the Flat Bastion. It was built to mount eight guns and fell into disuse about 1880 with the rapid advances in artillery.
In 1859 returns show that the battery was intended to mount nine 68-pdr guns. It is thought that one of these was a spare barrel, as shown in images. Prior to this it had been armed with 32-pdr guns.
In 1863 four 7-inch RBLs were mounted, giving a mixed battery of 7-inch RBLs and 68-pdrs. Later images show that whole battery mounting 7-inch RBLs, so this was probably a rolling upgrade.
The battery has now been completely lost under housing.
From the images it is apparent that foliage has been allowed to grow on the glacis to break up the outline of the battery.
A map from 1908 shows this Battery marked as the Saluting Battery.
The four Retired Batteries in the City area where: