Governor's Lookout Battery
Governor's Lookout Battery is one of the many artillery batteries in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, which served to protect it against its many sieges. It is located off Signal Station Road within the Upper Rock Nature Reserve.
Governor's Lookout Battery | |
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Part of Fortifications of Gibraltar | |
Signal Station Road, Upper Rock Nature Reserve, Gibraltar | |
Governor's Lookout Battery in Gibraltar equipped with a BL 9.2 inch gun in 1906 | |
Governor's Lookout Battery | |
Coordinates | 36.14369°N 5.347266°W |
Type | Artillery battery |
Site information | |
Owner | Government of Gibraltar |
Controlled by | Gibraltar Scouts Association |
History
Governor's Lookout Battery is located off Signal Station Road within the Upper Rock Nature Reserve on the Rock of Gibraltar which is the likely site of former Governor of Gibraltar General George Augustus Eliott's observation post during the Great Siege of Gibraltar (1779–83). The battery had a commanding view of the Bay of Gibraltar to the west and Spain to the north and was originally built to take one 9.2 inch breechloading gun Mk VI to bear on both the land batteries in Spain and out over the Bay at a range of 10,000 yards (9,100 m). In 1886 it mounted one 9 inch rifled muzzle-loading gun (RML). By July 1904 the battery was intended to carry four 9.2 inch breechloading guns Mk IV but one Mk X on a Mk V mounting was installed instead. The last gun was removed in 1940, during World War II.[1]
Governor's Lookout Battery is currently used by the Gibraltar Scouts Association as their local Scout Camp.[2]
References
- Hughes, Quentin; Migos Migos, Athanassios (1995). Strong as the Rock of Gibraltar. Exchange Publications. p. 252.
- "Scouts". Gibraltar Scouts Association. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2013.