The Defensible Barracks is a fortified barracks located at Europa Flats in the British Overseas Territory of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. The British defensive strategy in Gibraltar predominantly focused on keeping enemies at a distance through the use of artillery. There were few inner lines of defence to address the risk of an enemy getting through the outer line. However, the southern tip of Gibraltar,

Europa Point Europa Point (Spanish and Llanito: Punta de Europa or Punta Europa), is the southernmost point of Gibraltar (the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula being Punta de Tarifa 25 km southwest of Gibraltar). At the end of the Rock of Gibral ...

, was long felt to be potentially vulnerable to a surprise attack from the sea and was heavily fortified with gun batteries, perimeter walls and scarped cliffs. In 1841, Major General Sir

John Thomas Jones Major General Sir John Thomas Jones, 1st Baronet (25 March 1783 – 26 February 1843) was a British officer in the Royal Engineers who played a leading engineering role in a number of European campaigns of the early nineteenth century. Jones was ...

KCB recommended in a report on Gibraltar's fortifications that provision should be made for close defence of the batteries at Europa Point, which he identified as a possible invasion route. He recommended that "all barracks should be either bombproof or fireproof, and to a certain extent defensible." To that end, he designed a defensible barracks block which could be used both as a place of relaxation and as a fortification. Its front was pierced with loopholes to facilitate rifle fire, while the walled courtyard at the rear was protected by

caponier A caponier is a type of defensive structure in a fortification. Fire from this point could cover the ditch beyond the curtain wall to deter any attempt to storm the wall. The word originates from the French ', meaning "chicken coop" (a ''capon'' ...

s projecting out from each wall. The walls themselves were also pierced with loopholes. The building was capable of withstanding small arms fire and a direct assault, but was still vulnerable to a naval bombardment. It was strengthened some years later by the construction of a New Defensible or Bombproof Barracks, built on the curtain wall between 1st Europa Right Flank and Woodford's Left Flank. The new barracks stood between the existing Defensible Barracks and the sea, with its massive stone wall providing shelter for the accommodation casemates. The barracks complex is now used as a children's school.

References

{{Fortifications of Gibraltar Barracks in Gibraltar