Prince Albert's Front is a curtain wall that formerly comprised part of the seafront

fortifications of Gibraltar The Gibraltar peninsula, located at the far southern end of Iberia, has great strategic importance as a result of its position by the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. It has repeatedly been contested bet ...

. It runs between the

King's Bastion King's Bastion is a coastal bastion on the western front of the fortifications of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, protruding from the Line Wall Curtain. It is located between Line Wall Road and Queensway and overlooks the Bay of ...

and

Orange Bastion The Orange Bastion is one of the many bastions in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, which served to protect it against its many sieges. It is located along the Line Wall Curtain and was built to protect Gibraltar Harbour against enemy ...

. The Front was constructed in 1842 after a report by 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 ...

recommended improving Gibraltar's seafront defences to guard against the threat of an amphibious assault. It was named after

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Albert, Prince Consort (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Albert I of Belgium ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

's prince consort. The Front straightened out the line of Gibraltar's coastal curtain wall; parts of the original curtain wall, some of which dates from the

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

period over 500 years ago, can still be seen.

Hughes Hughes may refer to: People * Hughes (surname) * Hughes (given name) Places Antarctica * Hughes Range (Antarctica), Ross Dependency * Mount Hughes, Oates Land * Hughes Basin, Oates Land * Hughes Bay, Graham Land * Hughes Bluff, Victoria La ...

, p. 330 The Front was intended to be armed with 68-pdr cannon but their deployment did not proceed due to lack of funds. By 1859, six such guns had been installed on the Front along with another four in the

Windmill Hill Batteries The Windmill Hill Batteries are a series of artillery batteries situated on Windmill Hill, Gibraltar near the south of the peninsula. They are part of the fortifications of Gibraltar. The batteries were originally established by Lt General Edward ...

. The Front is interrupted half-way along by a flat platform called

Zoca Flank Jair Arantes do Nascimento (22 July 1942 – 25 March 2020), known as Zoca, was a Brazilian footballer who played as a forward. He was the brother of Pelé. Footballing career Zoca was born in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, two years a ...

, on which a 12.5-inch 38-ton

rifled muzzle loader A rifled muzzle loader in the forecastle of HMS Gannet (1878) ">HMS_Gannet_(1878).html" ;"title="forecastle of HMS Gannet (1878)">forecastle of HMS Gannet (1878) A rifled muzzle loader (RML) is a type of large artillery piece invented in the mid ...

(RML) was installed by 1879. By the 1880s, three 80-pdr RMLs had been installed on the right curtain wall.

References

Bibliography

* {{Coord, 36.1424, -5.3546, region:GI, format=dms, display=title City walls in Gibraltar