Three-storey artillery batteries within a natural fault in Gibraltar’s Rock.
The Orillon Batteries were artillery batteries in Gibraltar’s Northern Defences, built within a natural fault in the Rock of Gibraltar. They formed three-storey gun positions and were part of the Lower Galleries system. Several galleries, including the 1st and 3rd Orillon Galleries, connected to nearby defensive chambers and tunnels.
The Orillon Batteries were artillery batteries in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, forming part of the Fortifications of Gibraltar and the area known as the Northern Defences. These batteries were located within a natural fault in the Rock of Gibraltar and were arranged as three-storey gun positions. They were part of the Lower Galleries and lay behind the government housing blocks called Laguna Estate in Gibraltar’s north district; this area is currently closed to the public. The Northern Defences include the Orillon Batteries together with Bomb Proof Battery, Hanover Gallery, Kings and Queens Galleries, Star Chamber Cave, Commons Hall and St. Patrick's Chamber. There were thought to have been four Orillon Batteries, although the locations of the 2nd and 4th batteries are unclear. The 1st Orillon Gallery is reached by descending stairs called Pages Raise, which step off Queens Gallery, an arterial tunnel on the eastern side of the Northern Defences. This battery had three guns. The 3rd Orillon Gallery, dating from 1788, lies at the centre of the Northern Defences and links into St. Patrick's Chamber. Its battery later disappeared, and the space was used as a kitchen, with a period oven and evidence of a substantial wooden floor still visible.
