King's Bastion is a

coastal A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

bastion A bastion 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 fire from the ...

on the western front of the

fortifications A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

of 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 ...

, protruding from the

Line Wall Curtain The Line Wall Curtain is a defensive curtain wall that forms part of the fortifications of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Description The Line Wall runs from the North Bastion south along the western coast of the town to Engineer ...

. It is located between

Line Wall Road Line Wall Road is a road in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula ...

and Queensway and overlooks the

Bay of Gibraltar The Bay of Gibraltar (), 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 of Gibraltar and the Med ...

. It played a crucial role in defending The Rock during the

Great Siege of Gibraltar The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Enlightenment in Spain, Spain and Kingdom of France, France to capture Gibraltar from the Kingdom of Great Britain, British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the largest ba ...

. In more recent history the bastion was converted into a

generating station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

which powered Gibraltar's electricity needs. Today it continues to serve the community as Gibraltar's

leisure centre A leisure centre, sports centre, or recreation centre is a purpose-built building or site, usually owned and provided by the local government authority, where people can engage in a variety of sports and exercise, and keep fit. Typical facilit ...

Design and early history

King's Bastion is located at the junction of Queensway and

Reclamation Road Reclaim, reclaimed, reclaimer, reclaiming or reclamation means "to get something back". It may refer to: * Land reclamation, creating new land from oceans, riverbeds, or lake beds * Dedesertification, reversing of the land degradation in arid an ...

on the western side of the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The bastion is believed to have started as a

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

city gate A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway. Uses City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...

but was later developed by the Spanish in 1575 to become the . Construction began in 1773, when

Lieutenant-general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

Sir Robert Boyd (1710–1794), then

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of ...

, laid the first stone and declared: "This is the first stone of a work which I name the King's Bastion: may it be as gallantly defended, as I know it will be ably executed." The bastion was designed by Lieutenant colonel Sir William Green, Chief Engineer of the Soldier Artificer Company which later became the Corps. of

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

. At the time it was built, the King's Bastion was the most important of Gibraltar's defences on the west. Its

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling. ...

shape extended from the curtain wall

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

, known as the Line Wall, along Gibraltar's western coast into the

. It was consistent with traditional notions of a bastion. It included

casemates A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armoured structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mea ...

, which fulfilled the need for

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

, and housed 800 men. Less than a decade later, in 1782, King's Bastion served ably as the command post in the defence against the attacks of the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and

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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

during the

. It was from the bastion, that the "Grand Attack" of the Spanish floating batteries was orchestrated. The floating batteries had been adapted to withstand heavy shelling and were anchored only or so off the Rock. Designed by French engineer Jean Claude le Michaud d'Arcon they were equipped with specially reinforced hulls, irrigation pumps to quench any fires and pitched roofs to protect against plunging fire from shot. These modifications were thought to have made the ships unsinkable. The garrison quickly realised that red hot shots known as "hot potatoes", were extremely effective against the floating batteries and they were all eventually destroyed by fire. It was from King's Bastion that the first "hot potatoes" were fired at the Spanish floating batteries. Twenty-five guns had been installed in the bastion by 1859. They included seventeen 32-pounders, six 8-inch

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. Some examples of smoothbore weapons are muskets, blunderbusses, and flintlock pistols. ...

weapons, and two 10-inch

howitzers The howitzer () is an artillery weapon that falls between a cannon (or field gun) and a mortar. It is capable of both low angle fire like a field gun and high angle fire like a mortar, given the distinction between low and high angle fire break ...

. In 1874, the

embrasure An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of Age of Gunpowder, gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a sp ...

s at the front of the bastion were eliminated to permit installation of five

muzzle-loading rifle A muzzle-loading rifle is a Muzzleloader, muzzle-loaded Small arms and light weapons, small arm that has a rifled barrel rather than a smoothbore, and is loaded from the muzzle of the barrel rather than the breech. Historically they were developed ...

s (RMLs). All five RMLs had been mounted by 1878, where they remained until 1902. By the late 19th century, the bastion no longer served as a principal military defence. The turn of the century was remarkable for the

reclamation of land Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ...

in front of King's Bastion, as part of the new

dockyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes more involve ...

. The bastion was repurposed, and the casemates, no longer needed as barracks, housed coal stores. In addition, the area's first electricity-generating station was built there, with construction starting in 1896. A plaque ''(pictured below)'' installed on the northern façade of King's Bastion acknowledges the role of General

George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield General George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield, (25 December 1717 – 6 July 1790) was a British Army officer who served as the governor of Gibraltar from 1779 to 1790. Eliott rose to distinction during the Seven Years' War when he fou ...

, the

, in his command during the Great Siege. In addition, Major General Sir Robert Boyd was at his request interred inside a vault at the bastion's base, which he had included at the time of construction. However, there is no record of the exact location of the grave. A memorial stone was placed within the

King's Chapel King's Chapel is an American independent Christian unitarian congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association that is "unitarian Christian in theology, Anglican in worship, and congregational in governance." It is housed in ...

but the marble stone in the King's Bastion read:

"Within the walls of this bastion are deposited the mortal remains of the late General Sir Robert Boyd, K.B., governor of this fortress, who died on 13 May 1794, aged 84 years. By him the first stone of the bastion was laid in 1773, and under his supervision it was completed, when, on that occasion, in his address to the troops, he expressed a wish to see it resist the combined efforts of France and Spain, which wish was accomplished on 13 Sept. 1782, when, by the fire of this bastion, the flotilla expressly designed for the capture of this fortress were utterly destroyed."

20th century

The bastion underwent further modifications in the 20th century. Concrete

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

s were constructed and the structure became a lookout post. In addition, a 6 pounder anti-tank gun was mounted. After the 20th century wars, the bastion also became a saluting

battery Battery or batterie 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 * Battery indicator, a device whic ...

, employing four 25 pounders. The bastion's years as a military structure came to an end in 1961, when the ''King's Bastion Power Station'', designed by local architect Natalio Langdon was built adjacent to the bastion's northern façade and opened in October of that year. While the previous electricity-generating station was under military authority, the ''King's Bastion Power Station'' was under the civil authority of the

Government of Gibraltar His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar is the democratically elected government of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The head of state is King Charles III who is represented by the Governor. Elections in Gibraltar are held every four ...

. Oil storage and administration offices, among other facilities required for the day-to-day running of the station were housed within the vaults of the bastion itself. However, the generating station became obsolete during the late 1980s and closed down during the early 1990s.

King's Bastion Leisure Centre

The ''King's Bastion Power Station'' was demolished in October 2005, during which the original façade of the bastion was revealed. King's Bastion is listed with the

Gibraltar Heritage Trust The Gibraltar Heritage Trust is a non-profit charity established by statute on 1 May 1989 to preserve and promote the cultural natural heritage of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Funding and responsibilities The Trust collaborates w ...

. Alexis Almeida, Chairman of the Trust indicated that the bastion was "the last major battery built in this style and so is very important. We would love to restore King's Bastion to its former glory, it is magnificent and deserves to be seen." After extensive refurbishment, the ''King's Bastion Leisure Centre'' opened on 28 February 2008. It was officially inaugurated as a leisure centre on 1 March 2008 by the then

Chief Minister of Gibraltar The chief minister of Gibraltar is the head of Government of Gibraltar, His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar who is Elections in Gibraltar, elected by the Gibraltar Parliament, and formally appointed by the governor of Gibraltar, representat ...

Peter Caruana Sir Peter Richard Caruana, (born 15 October 1956) is a Gibraltarian former politician who served as Chief Minister of Gibraltar from 1996 to 2011 and Leader of the Gibraltar Social Democrats (GSD) from 1991 to 2013. He is the longest serving C ...

. Facilities include,

ice skating Ice skating is the Human-powered transport, self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. ...

cinemas A movie theater (American English) or cinema (Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business that contains auditoriums for viewing fi ...

bowling Bowling is a Throwing sports#Target sports, target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a bowling ball, ball toward Bowling pin, pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). Most references to ''bowling'' are ...

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

s, fitness gym,

al fresco dining Outdoor dining, also known as ''al fresco'' dining or ''dining al fresco'', is the act of eating a meal outside. In temperate climates, al fresco dining is especially popular in the summer months when temperatures and weather are most favorable. ...

, youth lounge, internet area and a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

. Following the demolition of the adjacent modern building which housed part of the generating station, the bastion was redeveloped for leisure activities while still maintaining the integrity of the bastion architecture as an important heritage site. The ice skating rink and cinema are housed on the upper level. The new building has not compromised the structure of the bastion, as the main part of the leisure centre sits within the bastion's courtyard and is only lightly tied to the walls of the historic building. Old maps, photographs and diagrams on the history of the bastion are on display at various locations within the centre.

Gallery

File:King's Bastion Leisure Centre aerial view.jpg, Aerial view of King's Bastion Leisure Centre. File:King's Bastion west façade wide angle.jpg, Wide angle view of the western façade of the King's Bastion Leisure Centre. File:King's Bastion Leisure Centre barracks exterior.jpg, Barracks at King's Bastion. File:King's Bastion Leisure Centre left flank (south).jpg, Cannon on south facing left flank of the King's Bastion Leisure Centre. File:King's Bastion Leisure Centre displays.jpg, Historical displays inside King's Bastion Leisure Centre. File:King's Bastion Leisure Centre casemates interior.jpg, Restaurant in casemates at King's Bastion Leisure Centre. File:King's Bastion Leisure Centre wash room.jpg, Wash room inside King's Bastion Leisure Centre. File:King's Bastion Leisure Centre hoist.jpg, Original hoist inside King's Bastion Leisure Centre. File:King's Bastion refurbishment RML 10 inch 18 ton gun 3.jpg, Refurbishment of an RML 10-inch 18 ton gun at King's Bastion. File:King's Bastion refurbishment rope mantlets.jpg, Rope mantlets at King's Bastion. File:King's Bastion refurbishment courtyard.jpg, Refurbishment of the courtyard at King's Bastion. File:King's Bastion Plaque.png, Plaque on King's Bastion northern façade.

References

External links

Short video of King's Bastion

Official website of King's Bastion Leisure Centre
{{Fortifications of Gibraltar Bastions in Gibraltar Coastal artillery Cinemas and movie theaters in Europe Power stations in Gibraltar Infrastructure in Gibraltar