Levant Battery

The Levant Battery is a 9.2-inch artillery battery situated in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located at the southern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, on Windmill Hill, beneath the observation post Fire Control South. Construction of the battery commenced in 1901, and by August 1903, a 9.2-inch Mark X breech-loading gun had been installed on a Mark V mounting. It was named after the Levanter cloud, due to its position below it, providing an unobstructed view. The original plan for the battery was to host two weapons, but it was designed for only one gun to bear on Mediterranean targets.

By 1907, a supply of drinking water for the Levant Battery had been provided. The 9.2-inch gun was subsequently decommissioned in the 1970s and is now situated in the Metalroc scrap yard on Devil's Tower Road. In February 2011, a group, later renamed "Save the Levant Battery 9.2 Gun," was founded to increase awareness of the battery's gun and to garner support for its recovery and restoration to either its original site or Harding's Battery.

Woolwich Warren built a model of Gibraltar in 1798, which included a representation of the Levant Battery. Gibraltar's surviving 9.2-inch guns are a notable feature of its defenses, with five batteries remaining on the rock: Levant, Spur, Breakneck, O'Hara's, and Lord Airey's Batteries. Levant Battery is the only one of these that can easily be visited.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons