Prince Albert's Front is a curtain wall that formerly comprised part of the seafront

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 ...

. It runs between the

King's Bastion King's Bastion is a coastal artillery, coastal bastion on the western front of the Fortifications of Gibraltar, fortifications of the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar, protruding from the Line Wall Curtain. I ...

and

Orange Bastion The Orange Bastion is one of the many bastions in the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, which served to protect it against its Siege of Gibraltar, many sieges. It is located along the Line Wall Curtain and was ...

. The Front was constructed in 1842 after a report by Major General Sir

John Thomas Jones Major General Sir John Thomas Jones, 1st Baronet (25 March 1783 – 26 February 1843) was a British officer in the Royal Engineers who played a leading engineering role in a number of European campaigns of the early nineteenth century. Jones w ...

recommended improving Gibraltar's seafront defences to guard against the threat of an amphibious assault. It was named after

Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

prince consort A prince consort is the husband of a monarch who is not a monarch in his own right. In recognition of his status, a prince consort may be given a formal title, such as ''prince''. Most monarchies do not allow the husband of a queen regnant to be ...

. The Front straightened out the line of Gibraltar's coastal curtain wall; parts of the original curtain wall, some of which dates from the

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

period over 500 years ago, can still be seen. Hughes, p. 330 The Front was intended to be armed with 68-pdr cannon but their deployment did not proceed due to lack of funds. By 1859, six such guns had been installed on the Front along with another four in the Windmill Hill Batteries. The Front is interrupted half-way along by a flat platform called Zoca Flank, on which a 12.5-inch 38-ton rifled muzzle loader (RML) was installed by 1879. By the 1880s, three 80-pdr RMLs had been installed on the right curtain wall.

References

Bibliography

* {{Coord, 36.1424, -5.3546, region:GI, format=dms, display=title City walls in Gibraltar