The Prince's Lines are part of the
fortifications of Gibraltar
The Gibraltar peninsula, located at the far southern end of Iberian Peninsula, Iberia, has great strategic importance as a result of its position by the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. It has repeatedly ...
, situated on the lower slopes of the north-west face of the
Rock of Gibraltar
The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabal Ṭāriq , meaning "Mountain of Tariq ibn Ziyad, Tariq") is a monolithic limestone mountain high dominating the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It is situated near the end of a nar ...
. They are located at a height of about on a natural ledge above the
Queen's Lines, overlooking the landward entrance to
Gibraltar
Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...
, and run from a natural fault called the
Orillon to a cliff at the southern end of the isthmus linking Gibraltar with Spain.
[ Hughes & Migos, p. 335] The lines face out across the modern Laguna Estate, which stands on the site of the
Inundation
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...
, an artificial lake created to obstruct landward access to Gibraltar. They were constructed to
enfilade
Enfilade and defilade are concepts in military tactics used to describe a military formation's exposure to enemy fire. A formation or position is "in enfilade" if weapon fire can be directed along its longest axis. A unit or position is "in de ...
attackers approaching Gibraltar's
Landport Front from the landward direction.
A fortification constructed by the Spanish or Moors appears to have existed on the site before the
British capture of Gibraltar in 1704, but the Lines were principally constructed during the 18th century. They were first laid out in 1720, and a stone stepped communication passage was later built to connect them with the Queen's Lines.
William Green carried out major improvements after 1761, repairing the parapets, scarping the cliff, repairing the banquets and parapets and smoothing the ditches with mortar. To prevent shells and rubble rolling into the Lines from behind, dry rubble walls were constructed to their rear. The glacis in front of the Lines was also cleared of boulders and crevices were infilled to deny enemy soldiers any shelter. A bombproof barracks, magazine and cookhouse were built at the same time.
During the construction of the Lines, an "entire human skeleton" was discovered fossilised in the rock but was blown to pieces by a miner. Nothing else is recorded about this find, but only a few decades later, the first known
Neanderthal
Neanderthals ( ; ''Homo neanderthalensis'' or sometimes ''H. sapiens neanderthalensis'') are an extinction, extinct group of archaic humans who inhabited Europe and Western and Central Asia during the Middle Pleistocene, Middle to Late Plei ...
skull was found nearby.
Stringer
Stringer may refer to:
Structural elements
* Stringer (aircraft), or longeron, a strip of wood or metal to which the skin of an aircraft is fastened
* Stringer (slag), an inclusion, possibly leading to a defect, in cast metal
* Stringer (stairs), ...
, p. 133
The Lines saw action during the
Thirteenth Siege of Gibraltar (1726–27), when they mounted two cannon and several
swivel gun
A swivel gun (or simply swivel) is a small cannon mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rot ...
s which were reported to have caused heavy casualties among the attacking Spanish force. During the
Anglo-Spanish War of 1761–63, they mounted two 9-pdrs and five 6-pdrs, and by 1770 they could accommodate up to fifty wall-mounted guns using sockets cut into the eastern end of the parapet's crest. A communication gallery was cut in 1790.
The Lines were bombarded again during the
Great Siege of Gibraltar
The Great Siege of Gibraltar was an unsuccessful attempt by Enlightenment in Spain, Spain and Kingdom of France, France to capture Gibraltar from the Kingdom of Great Britain, British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the largest ba ...
(1779–83). On 11 June 1782, a Spanish shell exploded inside the magazine of
Princess Anne's Battery further up the Rock, causing a massive explosion that blew the flank of the battery into the Prince's Lines, killing fourteen soldiers.
Hanover Battery stands at the west end of the Lines. At the eastern end of the Lines are
Lower Forbes Battery and
Prince's Lines Battery, which was repurposed during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
to mount a searchlight housed inside a cantilevered iron cupola. The parapet of the Lines was raised during the war to provide loopholes for rifles, with a second wall added behind and the space roofed over with concrete.
The Lines are still mostly intact but have been abandoned and are now in a state of overgrown disrepair.
[ Fa & Finlayson, p. 54]
References
Bibliography
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{{Fortifications of Gibraltar
Fortifications in Gibraltar