Historic underground naval water tanks at Rosia Bay, Gibraltar, demolished 2006.
The Rosia Water Tanks were large underground water tanks at Rosia Bay in Gibraltar, built between 1799 and 1804 on Admiral John Jervis’s recommendation to relocate the Victualling Yard. They supplied food and water together for Royal Navy ships. Transferred from the UK Ministry of Defence to Gibraltar in 2004, they were demolished in 2006.
The Rosia Water Tanks were large underground water tanks forming part of the Victualling Yard complex at Rosia Bay in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Admiral John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, recommended in 1799 that the Victualling Yard be moved from the Old Mole area to Rosia Bay so Royal Navy vessels could obtain both food and water at a single site. Construction of the complex, including the tanks, took place around the turn of the nineteenth century, with the Rosia Water Tanks themselves begun in 1799 and completed in 1804. The tanks consisted of six parallel underground chambers, built into the cliffs next to the Victualling Yard by contractor Giovanni (John) Maria Boschetti. They were constructed using bricks brought from Britain and sand‑lime mortar, then waterproofed. The roofs of the Victualling Yard acted as a rainwater catchment, directing water to a settlement tank and then successively through the storage tanks, where it was purified and supplied to Royal Navy ships. The Rosia Water Tanks remained under the control of the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence until 2004, when ownership passed to the Government of Gibraltar. Despite local and international criticism and a court case by the Gibraltar Heritage Trust, they were demolished in 2006 to make way for housing.
