Strategic hill on Gibraltar’s Rock within Upper Rock Nature Reserve.
Middle Hill is a hill in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, forming part of the Rock of Gibraltar at the northern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. It featured in the 1704 siege, later hosted Middle Hill Battery, and was subsequently used as a Ministry of Defence radio farm.
Middle Hill is a hill on the Rock of Gibraltar, within the Upper Rock Nature Reserve in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It is situated at the northern end of the reserve and forms part of Gibraltar’s defensive and communications history. After the capture of Gibraltar in August 1704, Spanish soldiers scaled the Rock and reached Middle Hill during the subsequent siege. They climbed via St. Michael’s Cave and the Charles V Wall, killed a guard at Middle Hill, and helped additional troops ascend, before the incursion was discovered and defeated. By 1727, Middle Hill Battery had been constructed on the hill, with a gun mounted there. The emplacement remained in use and was upgraded for more than two centuries. In October 1779, construction began on a carriage road from Middle Hill to facilitate moving a gun to the planned Rock Gun Battery, and 24‑pounder guns were brought to Middle Hill for a new battery, later named the Royal Battery. In the mid twentieth century, Middle Hill was converted into an aerial or radio farm for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence, and the radio facilities were refurbished in 1958.
