Limestone solutional cave within Gibraltar’s Rock, central to historic tunnels.
Star Chamber Cave is a natural limestone solutional cave inside the Rock of Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory. Incorporated in the Northern Defences as the centre of the Lower Galleries tunnels from the 1780s, it later housed the King’s Regiment Battalion Headquarters in 1941 and remains visitable by prior arrangement.
Star Chamber Cave is a natural limestone solutional cave within the Rock of Gibraltar, in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. In the 1780s the cave became the centre of a tunnel network known as the Lower Galleries, part of the Northern Defences. It was literally and organisationally at the centre of the tunnelling operations of the eighteenth century carried out by the Soldier Artificer Company, later the Royal Engineers. The cave is incorporated into the Northern Defences complex and lies at the centre of the tunnel system. The main entrance is by Hanover Battery, and Star Chamber Cave is reached only after passing through the Hanover and King’s Galleries, which were created from 1787 to 1789. The cave could also be accessed via the King’s Lines fortification. Unlike the Upper Galleries, which are a tourist attraction, the Lower Galleries and Star Chamber Cave can only be visited by prior arrangement. During World War II the tunnels continued in use, and brick buildings were constructed within the cave and galleries. A sign on the cave wall records that in 1941 it served as the King’s Regiment Battalion Headquarters.
