The Devil’s Bellows was likely the original name of a ravine separating the upper slopes of the Rock from the southern plateau known as Windmill Hill Flats. Later the name came to refer specifically to the tunnel that led directly to Windmill Hill. The area earned its name because it faces the open south and is naturally exposed to strong winds — the funnel-shaped entrances and exits intensify these gusts, acting like giant bellows.

Dr. John Hennen, the Garrison’s Medical Superintendent, who served in Gibraltar for much of the period between 1809 and 1828, until he himself succumbed to the very yellow fever he had been sent to study draws attention to the effects of the strong winds in the area. In his Sketches of the Medical Topography of the Mediterranean (published posthumously in 1830), he wrote the following about Gibraltar’s Devil’s Bellows:

“What is called the Devil's Bellows on this hill is a striking illustration of the effects of long-drawn passages, or funnel-shaped chasms, in producing partial currents of wind; and, in common with other exposed situations, is evidently conducive to the production of all those pulmonary and bowel affections commonly referred to suppressed perspiration. Several severe cases of fever have occurred among the troops and their families quartered on this hill, which appear also to owe their origin to this cause.”

Hennen makes no reference to the existing tunnel, which was most likely constructed around 1840. A plaque mounted on the wall beside the tunnel commemorates a later development:

“A.D. 1842. The roads were made and the surface levelled of this heretofore rugged hill by the voluntary labor of Her Majesty’s VIIth Royal Fusiliers.”

The plaque does not mention the Devil’s Bellows itself, as the tunnel — a work of considerable engineering skill — was probably carried out by the Royal Engineers rather than the Fusiliers.

VIIth Royal Fusiliers road surfacing plaque Devil's Bellows.

The Reverend Stewart Patterson in Notes and Queries for Literary Men published in 1884 also mentions the site.

“The Devil's Bellows, a small valley enclosed amongst the fortifications at the entrance to Windmill Hill barracks and the military prison. On a stormy day the wind rushes with great violence through a tunnel here and sweeps down the defile.”

The Devils Bellows looking south.

Devil's Bellows looking north.

In December 1941, a 4-inch Mark IX naval gun was mounted just above the road tunnel forming the entrance to Windmill Hill Flats, having been transferred from Buena Vista. Its primary role was local defence, preventing enemy access to Windmill Hill through the Devil’s Bellows, while also serving a general support role alongside other guns defending the harbour. Additionally, it acted as a reserve weapon for Genista, to be used if one of the 6-inch guns there was put out of action.

The Fortress of Gibraltar Group carried out a restoration of the 4-inch gun rescued from Devil’s Bellows in 2021. The gun had been cut up into pieces for scrap decades ago and welded back together by Selina. The restored gun barrel is now displayed at Napier Magdala Battery.

See Link: 4-inch Naval Gun Mk IX, Napier of Magdala Battery

Gibraltar Security Police checkpoint at Devil's Bellows.

A Second World War pillbox also stands to the left of the tunnel entrance. It was constructed by No. 2 Tunnelling Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, under the command of Lieutenant M.A. Elson, and christened as Fort Canada in their honour. Several similar pillboxes were built at key vantage points as part of the 2nd Gibraltar Brigade’s defence scheme, designed to repel any potential paratrooper attack.

Fort Canada pillbox and interpretation panel.