Nineteenth-century curtain wall in Gibraltar’s seafront fortifications between bastions.
Prince Albert’s Front is a curtain wall forming part of Gibraltar’s historic seafront fortifications. Built in 1842 between King’s Bastion and Orange Bastion, it straightened the coastal Line Wall Curtain. Named for Prince Albert, it incorporates earlier sections dating back over 500 years to Moorish Gibraltar.
Prince Albert’s Front is a curtain wall that formerly comprised part of the seafront fortifications of Gibraltar. It runs between King’s Bastion and Orange Bastion and is part of the Fortifications of Gibraltar. Constructed in 1842, it followed a report by Major General Sir John Thomas Jones, who recommended improving Gibraltar’s seafront defences against the threat of an amphibious assault. The wall was named after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s prince consort. The construction of Prince Albert’s Front straightened the line of Gibraltar’s coastal Line Wall Curtain. Parts of the original curtain wall, some of which date from the Moorish period over 500 years ago, can still be seen along this stretch. The Front was originally intended to be armed with 68‑pounder cannon, but deployment was delayed due to lack of funds. By 1859, six 68‑pounder guns had been installed on the Front, with another four in the Windmill Hill Batteries. Half-way along, the Front is interrupted by a flat platform called Zoca Flank, where a 12.5‑inch 38‑ton rifled muzzle loader was installed by 1879. By the 1880s, three 80‑pounder rifled muzzle loaders had been added on the right curtain wall.
