This is one of four remaining military hoists still extant in the old A.S.C. Stores in the south end of Town Range (Old Bakery and stores). This hoist is located in the exterior at 44 Town Range above the Karate-Do' Shotokai Club.

Cast iron hoists

A number of commercial hoists are still visible in Gibraltar, particularly along Irish Town, and these can normally be traced back to the Victorian period when the renowned architect John Maria Boschetti introduced the characteristic Genoese style ‘Merchant Houses’ constructed in Gibraltar’s old town during the early part of the 19^th Century.

These typical merchant houses doubled both as residences and commercial premises; the shop or office being located on the ground floor, a warehouse on the second and a residential level built on the levels above. Hoists were incorporated onto the exterior wall on the first floor to lift stores and supplies into these first floor warehouses. The first half of the 19^th Century marked a period of great commercial prosperity in Gibraltar and Irish Town became a prime location for rich merchants to build these classic Merchant Houses, and this gives Irish Town its unique characteristic architecture.

The Victorian era also saw the introduction of bigger and more powerful coastal defence guns being introduced into Gibraltar after 1870 and these necessitated hoists to lift the heavier shells and charges from the magazines below to the guns above.

Military hoists were also used to load stores to their own military stores or sunken casemates and these have also been recorded.