The Line Wall Curtain is a defensive curtain wall that forms part of the

fortifications A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''face ...

of the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Br ...

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 = Gibr ...

Description

The Line Wall runs from the North Bastion south along the western coast of the town to

Engineer Battery Engineer Battery was an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Description Engineer Battery was at the southern end of the Line Wall Curtain which starts at the North Bastion. The battery was at the end of what was the ...

, just south of the South Mole. It protected the town from bombardment from ships in the

Bay of Gibraltar The Bay of Gibraltar ( es, Bahía de Algeciras), is a bay at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It is around long by wide, covering an area of some , with a depth of up to in the centre of the bay. It opens to the south into the Strait ...

and from troops landing from the sea. The Line Wall Curtain, as it stands, was built by the British in the 18th century running north–south as part of the Line Wall western defenses.

History

The wall incorporates, and is to some extent built upon, older

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and

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 s ...

fragments. The earlier wall from the Moorish period incorporated square and round towers along its length, whose traces were still visible in the 1770s. It was pierced by clay pipes that carried water from a well down the slopes, used for supplying water to galleys moored in the bay. An aqueduct ran along the Line Wall, enclosed in its masonry, to the Waterport, where it replenished a reservoir from which water for the galleys was drawn. The Waterport was where the galleys were built (now

Grand Casemates Square Grand Casemates Square (colloquially Casemates Square or Casemates) is the larger of the two main squares within the city centre of Gibraltar (the other being John Mackintosh Square). The square takes its name from the British-built Grand Casem ...

), and where they could be anchored alongside the

Old Mole ''Old Mole'' was a radical New Left oriented underground newspaper published in Cambridge, Massachusetts from September 1968 to September 1970. ''Old Mole'' was continued by a second volume titled ''The Mole'', which published five issues from Nov ...

that extended from the shore to the north. As of 1836, the main defensive position in the Line Wall was the

King's Bastion King's Bastion is a coastal artillery, coastal bastion on the western front of the Fortifications of Gibraltar, fortifications of the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar, protruding from the Line Wall Curtain. It ...

, at the centre of the

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

. This was built by General Sir Robert Boyd in 1772 on the site of an old Moorish gate that had been replaced by a Spanish

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

. It played a key role in the defence of Gibraltar during its Great Siege (1779–1783), providing the platform from which red hot shot was fired at the

floating batteries A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship. History Use of timber rafts loaded with cannon by Danish defenders of Copenhagen a ...

of the Spanish forces. At that time, the main sea defenses consisted on the North, Montagu, Orange, King's and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

bastions, with the line wall curtain connecting these positions. In 1841 General Sir John Jones assessed the defenses at Gibraltar and made recommendations for improvements that set the pattern for many years. This included building new white

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

walls along the Line Wall, which was straightened and in some places relocated to make room for new

batteries Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * City walls in Gibraltar {{fort-stub