Eighteenth‑century artillery battery on Gibraltar’s North Face, later radar site.
Rock Gun Battery is an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, on the North Face of the Rock at the northern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. Built in October 1779 during the Great Siege, it was later rebuilt in the Second World War and became a Ministry of Defence radar and aerial site.
Rock Gun Battery is an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, part of the Fortifications of Gibraltar. It stands about 411.5 metres up the North Face of the Rock of Gibraltar, at the northern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve on Middle Hill, above Green’s Lodge Battery, at the terminus of Rock Gun Road. The position was established during the Great Siege of Gibraltar. In October 1779, after successful operations from the recently constructed Green’s Lodge Battery, a higher site was chosen on the summit of the North Face. Impatient gunners hauled a 24‑pounder up the cliff using a block and tackle system, completed the platform on 12 October 1779, and began firing the next day. From this elevated vantage point they could observe enemy operations and fire on the Spanish camp. During the Second World War the emplacement was rebuilt by the Black Watch, including a platform for anti‑aircraft guns. In the mid‑twentieth century the Ministry of Defence converted the site into a radio and radar installation, with 90‑foot wooden towers carrying VHF and UHF aerials. For decades Rock Gun Battery and nearby Middle Hill Battery were restricted MOD areas, closed to the public, and the summit remains under MOD authority.
