South Bastion

Ref: HLFP3/033

This massive fortification marks the most westerly of the land fortifications of the South Front, marking as it does the southern limits of the City. It was said to have been originally designed in the early 1540s by Benedetto da Ravenna, the first Italian to be given the title of Engineer of the Crown of Castile, although, it is more probable that the actual design of this bastion was undertaken by the Milanese engineer, Giovanni Battista Calvi, in 1557. Prior to this, there had been an older fortification on this site, possibly dating back to the Marīnid period (late 13^th to mid-14^th centuries) with a tower standing next to the western line wall, later known as La Torre de la Zebrera. This early fortification is plainly visible in the 16^th century plan of the City’s defences, entitled ‘Gibilterra: planta della mura moresche con i primi bastioni’ preserved in the Museum of Military Engineers in Rome. It is also shown in the Map and Fortifications of Gibraltar by an unknown cartographer dated to 1597. Be it as it may, the preliminary supervision of the projected works was carried out by Giacomo Palearo Fratin in 1575.

1597 - Map and Fortifications of Gibraltar (unknown).

The local, Spanish historian, Alonso Hernández del Portillo, writing in 1610-22, described the works as follows:

‘He (Calvi) built a wall to protect the south side of the City (for as I have already mentioned it was not walled on the southern side) which stretched from east to west, from the sea to a casemate he built at the foot of an inaccessible cliff…..and this wall would command the sand banks close to the City, and from there the garrison would be able to threaten any enemies who tried to approach the first wall which protected the City itself and the gate known as ‘New’ so that the enemy would not be able to find protection from our men on the third wall above.’

Hernández del Portillo also referred to the fact that Fratin disapproved of the second and third walls ordered to be built by Calvi and ordered many of these works to be pulled down and that:

‘he extended the first wall from the casemate up to the top of the Rock to the place called ‘el Hacho’ in a number of traverses, but neither this wall, nor the bastion of Santa Cruz [Demi-Bastion], nor another huge bastion which he built at the sea-end of the City wall, which he called Nuestra Señora del Rosario after a hermitage close by have been completed yet. In order to build the Bastion of el Rosario, he pulled down an old stretch of wall in which there was a very elegant Moorish gate, known as the Gate of Algeciras, over which was another key, as we said was seen over the Gate of Granada and which was of the same construction.’

1608 - Cristobal de Rojas - Perfil que tiene la caida de la muralla y terreno empesando del trabes de Santiago hasta la punta del bastion del Rosario.

The South Bastion, at the time, was a well-designed fortification with cannon in its flanks, which enfiladed the face of the curtain wall along the coast to the north and the face of the South Front. On the sea face of this bastion the parapet, and behind it, the rampart was stepped down to mount a battery capable of firing out to sea and protected by the higher battlements on the southern face from any enemy guns mounted on the ground facing the South Front. Its placement, between the two curtain walls and its two façades of generous dimensions, connected the curtains via two flanks. It was constructed with sloping walls, which were taller than the defences on either side of it and acted as an independent fortress with its own access doors, gunpowder magazines and water wells that would allow it to defend itself irrespective of what might be happening elsewhere in the fortress. This stepped bastion was unusual but it was used by Antonio da San Gallo the Younger in the Bastione Andeatina and stands to the west of the Vatican gate of Pope Pius VIII in Rome, constructed about 1565.

Bastione Ardeatino constructed by Antonio del Sangallo circa 1565, Rome.

Thomas James first suggested that the design of these works were carried out according to the instructions of the German military engineer Daniel Specklin, a claim supported by other historians since then. James offers no sources to back his claim and there is no evidence Specklin ever visited Spain, let alone Gibraltar. However, Specklin’s sketches includes a bastion and supporting flat bastion almost identical to the South Bastion and Flat Bastion in Gibraltar, and in his book’s introduction Specklin claimed that he designed the defences for Gibraltar – the only place referred by name in his book. A sketch in Specklin’s book published in 1589 appears to show a fortification system of similar design to South Bastion and Flat Bastion.

Daniel Specklin's sketch of a bastion and supporting flat bastion in Architectura Von Vestungen.

In 1627, Don Luis Bravo de Acuña, was commissioned by King Philip IV to undertake an in-depth study of the Rock’s fortifications and to report back to the Conde Duque de Olivares on its weaknesses with a view to undertaking a comprehensive improvement to its defences. His report contained the following information on the South Bastion: ‘Upon the Bastion of Our Lady of the Rosary, a casemate facing the sea has been constructed, as it was much too low and was both useless and dangerous for the utilisation of artillery. A staircase in dressed stone has been built in its interior with access to the wall, together with the gun platforms which communicate with it. This was essential, as previously one had to go right round it in order to gain access to it, and at present, it will be much easier as there are now two new entries. Some of the parapets which were serving no great purpose have been dismantled and a Cavalier (basically a work raised higher than the ramparts) set up; this work now has a commanding view of the sea and the New Mole. An existing one, which was still of use, has also been completely rebuilt and another one repaired, which improves the requirements for the Artillery. In the same bastion, at the land gate (the present Charles V Gate), another casemate has been built which hinders access to the Africa Gate, and opposite the Bastion of Santiago, and deepened the moat in that part….’

1627 Bravo de AcuñA Plan of Gibraltar (detail).

Following the capture of Gibraltar by Anglo-Dutch forces in August 1704, much of the Rock’s defences fell into disrepair with the negligible funds allocated for the fortifications being spent on repairing officers’ houses in the City.

Dalton records two 4 pounders and ten 18-pounders here in 1720 and Kane, in 1725, mentions eleven guns. According to James the Bastion was 300 feet long on the Sea Face and 260 feet long on the southern side. It was much higher than Line Wall to cover the town from the higher ground of the Sand Hills, now the Alameda area, which were with musket range. The South Face had four embrasures and a retired flank with two embrasures to scour the ditch. The Southport Gate had loopholes for wall pieces. The 1744 Armament List records fifteen iron 24 pounders on the bastion.

Colonel Thomas James, writing in 1755, described the South Bastion in his book ‘The History of the Herculean Straits’ published in 1771, as follows:

‘The south bastion has irregular faces, that next the sea being three hundred feet in length, and that next the red sands two hundred and sixty: this bastion is raised higher than the line wall, to cover the town from the sand hills immediately before it, and within musket shot, on the south side are four embrasures, the flank has a breast work, and a retired flank with two embrasures to scour the ditch.’

1747 - - Annotated map showing South Bastion bearing 21 guns (unknown).

1740 - View of the South Front - William Skinner.

No action was taken to remedy the state of neglect of much of the Rock’s defences until 1756 with the arrival of the new Governor, James O’Hara, 2^nd Baron Tyrawley, who became considerably concerned about the state of Gibraltar’s defences. He was of the opinion that the South Front was one of the weakest points in the fortifications and was just the spot where any possible attack might be anticipated. In this respect, the southern face of the South Bastion was strengthened with embrasures constructed for twelve guns, together with another two at the salient point; previously the guns there had been mounted en barbette [a platform upon which guns could be mounted to fire over the parapet instead of through the embrasures]. He also ordered the building across the Red Sands of a series of retrenchments for guns and muskets which could be flanked from the South Bastion and which could cover any enemy break-through of the sea walls.

1753 James Gabriel Montresor Line Wall to South Bastion (detail).

Most of the works were constructed of earth of which, according to Governor Tyrawley ‘there was a great plenty at Gibraltar’. The parapet on the South Bastion, eighteen feet thick, was made of large sun-dried bricks with a parapet wall three feet high and two feet thick. In the years that followed, rain washed away most of the earthworks and the sun-dried bricks, with the officer in charge of the works, Captain Charles Rainsford, claiming that this could have been prevented. He was of the opinion that this would not have happened had a coating of tapia, made up of a mixture of sand and lime, been applied to the surfaces from time to time.

In 1770, at the time that Lieutenant William Green was appointed as Chief Engineer, the South Front was further strengthened with redans [an advanced work, usually triangular in form] built to enfilade the front and west face of the South Bastion. It was recommended that this bastion be armed with three 18 or 24-pounders, one 8-inch howitzer and two 9-pounders on the low flank and a 13-inch mortar in the salient.

778 - A general plan of the fortifications of the town, William Green (detail)

1776 - Northwest and southwest corners of South Bastions, William Green.

This part of Gibraltar did not experience much action during the Great Siege (1779-83) due to the fact that the enemy concentrated most of its fire power on the northern area of the Rock, with its connection to the isthmus and the ‘No Man’s Land’. The armament of the Bastion in 1771 consisted of the following:

South Front or Face - four iron 24-pounders, three iron 4-pounders, two brass 8-inch howitzers, six brass 8-inch mortars and one brass 5.5-inch mortar.

West Front or Face - eight iron 24-pounders, one iron 4-pounder, two brass 8-inch howitzers, two brass 10-inch howitzers and one brass 5.5-inch mortar.

In 1781 the bastion reported the following armament.

South Front or Face - two 32-pounders, four 24-pounders, one 4-pounder, two 3-pounders, one brass 8-inch howitzer, one brass 10-inch howitzer.

West Front or Face – ten 24-ponders, one 6-pounder.

1782 - Destruction of the Floating Batteries (unknown). South Bastion can be identified as the fortification with the Red Ensign flying.

In January 1808, the Commander of the Royal Engineers informed the Governor that South Bastion was under repair but no details were given in the letter. A plan of 1826 shows two casemate embrasures, almost at ground level, and still visible, pointing east and covering Southport, two embrasures on the eastern end of the South face and five at the western end, ten on the Right Face and two on the Right Flank with platforms for two howitzers in addition.

1799 - Plan de Gibraltar Bastion du Sud, Barbié du Bocage.

1826 - Plan for the realignment of the Line Wall, South Bastion.

Gibraltar North from South Bastion from drawings by H. A. West, 1828.

In 1834 the Armament List for South Bastion records: ten iron 32-pounders, two four iron 24-pounders, six iron 18-pounders, two iron 24-pounder carronades, two iron 12-pounder carronades and one iron 10-inch mortar. There were also eight brass 6-pounders, one brass 10-inch howitzer, one brass 8-inch howitzer and one brass 12-pounder howitzer.

Years later, in the rearmament report of 1856, it was proposed to mount there a battery of eighteen guns, although this was probably not implemented. In 1859, the bastion carried twenty-seven guns as follows: twelve 32-pounders, six 8-inch guns, one 10-inch howitzer, one 8-inch howitzer, four 32-pounder carronades and one 10-inch mortar.

1830's - Piaget et Lailavoix - South Bastion (detail).

The plans of Major General Jones of 1841 proposed to add an advanced wall as a flank for musketry only in front of the existing right flank of South Bastion, which was considered very elevated and much cramped for space; but it was decided that the ordnance was to remain there for the time being. This arrangement was calculated to save the laboratory buildings which encumbered the upper flank, and added to the defence of this portion of the sea line at a very small cost. It nevertheless found that the right face of the South Bastion required much outside repair for the preservation of the Masonry.

South Bastion western face repairs carried out as per Major General Jones recomendations of 1841.

1861 - South Bastion and Ragged Staff Mole.

1865 - Rock Model, South Bastion.

In 1868, a new scheme of artillery defence, recommended by Colonel W.F.D Jervois, was approved with one of the new heavy RML gun battery to be sited at South Bastion.

On 18^th December 1880, construction nevertheless commenced for the emplacements for three heavy 10-inch RML guns with the work completed by 31^st October 1881 at a total cost of £478. The merlons, containing expense magazines, were slightly curved on their face in order to deflect shot and were cast in concrete and faced with masonry. The guns were also protected by iron ‘Gibraltar shields’ and the main magazine sited at the rear of the battery.

The 1885 armament list and subsequent lists show South Bastion bearing the following armament;

Right Flank Nil

Right Face 3 x 10 inch BML - removed in 1900

Left Face 3 x 64 pounder BML - removed by 1892

Left Flank 2 x 32 pounder SB - removed by 1889

The 1896/97 Survey shows seven embrasures on the south front of the bastion, five on the west and two on the east.

1870's South Bastion from Flat Bastion.

1870's Ragged Staff and South Bastion.

During WWII it is not clear if an AA site was located at South Bastion there being no record in any of the AA unit War Diaries of a LAA site with this name. On top of the concrete work of the bastion is a circular concrete position but this is the Sound Locator emplacement for the Ragged Staff AASL. A Second World War observation and fighting position was built into the brick work on the south-west corner of South Bastion. It would appear that this position was dug out of the original Spanish works, just below where the old guard post would have been.

Pillbox openings South Bastion.

Pillbox view South Bastion.

WWII DEL site South Bastion.

Sound Locator emplacement.

The site was abandoned by the military in the early 1950’s and transferred through the Military Town Planning Scheme to civilian Government control. In 1956, a new Primary school building – Bishop Fitzgerald School [now the Gibraltar College] was built atop the bastion and inaugurated in September 1957. A few years later, two Old People’s Homes (Church of England and Jewish faith), subsidised under the terms of the Will of the late John Mackintosh, were also built upon the northwest side of the sea-facing wall of the South Bastion and inaugurated on 10^th February 1964.