Jones' Battery is one of the best preserved of the "retired"

artillery battery In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to f ...

in the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. It was named after 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 w ...

who once controlled the fortifications here.

Description

Jones' Battery is close to the

Moorish Castle The Moorish Castle is the name given to a medieval fortification in Gibraltar comprising various buildings, gates, and fortified walls, with the dominant features being the Tower of Homage and the Gate House. Part of the castle itself also hous ...

. It was one of the first set of retired batteries which were proposed by General Sir John Jones. Jones was an important fortifications expert well respected by military engineers. These "retired" batteries were the first to be set away from the shoreline in order that they could get increased range by taking advantage of the steep slopes of the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabal Ṭāriq , meaning "Mountain of Tariq ibn Ziyad, Tariq") is a monolithic limestone mountain high dominating the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It is situated near the end of a nar ...

. In addition the batteries location was less obvious to the enemy. Jones also built similar batteries at the Civil Hospital and at

Raglan's Battery Raglan's Battery was an artillery battery overlooking Gibraltar Harbour, the harbour in the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. During World War II the Raglan Battery Shelter was here. Description Raglan's Batte ...

overlooking the harbour. In 1859 this battery had eleven guns. The battery was reportedly well preserved in 2006 as it still had the main wall, expense magazines, parapet and embrasures could be seen just off a road to the ''Moorish Castle Estate''. Jones' idea eventually led to guns being sighted on the very top of the rock.

References

Artillery battery fortifications in Gibraltar {{Gibraltar-struct-stub