Orange Bastion

Orange Bastion
Part of Fortifications of Gibraltar
Line Wall Curtain, Line Wall Road, Gibraltar
Eastern façade of Orange Bastion on Line Wall Road.
Sign on the façade
Orange Bastion
Coordinates	36°08′36″N 5°21′16″W / 36.143455°N 5.354505°W / 36.143455; -5.354505
Type	Bastion
Site information
Owner	Government of Gibraltar

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

Named after King of England, William of Orange, this small asymmetric bastion was rebuilt by the British on the site of an older and larger Spanish bastion along the Line Wall Curtain. In 1758 the main face of the bastion held six guns intended to defend the Old Mole firing out to ships 600–700 yards (550–640 m) away.

During the Great Siege of Gibraltar, the bastion was redesigned and enlarged to become a demi-bastion featuring a retired flank behind an orillon with parapets 12 feet (3.7 m) thick

In the 1790s, Sir William Green oversaw improvements to Gibraltar's defences and had the Orange and the Montagu Bastions extended and also arranged for a counterguard to be constructed in front of them as additional defences. This 1823 counterguard which was originally named "Orange Counterguard" was later renamed to Chatham Counterguard after the Earl Of Chatham who was the Governor of Gibraltar from 1821. The counterguard protected the bastion as the enemy would have to capture the counterguard before taking on the bastion; and whilst attempting this the enemy would come under the direct fire of the bastion. A third layer of protection was added by constructing a breakwater in front of the counterguard to deter amphibious assaults.