Windmill Hill (Gibraltar)

Windmill Hill or Windmill Hill Flats is one of a pair of plateaux, known collectively as the Southern Plateaux, at the southern end of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located just to the south of the Rock of Gibraltar, which descends steeply to the plateau. Windmill Hill slopes down gently to the south with a height varying from 120 metres (390 ft) at the north end to 90 metres (300 ft) at the south end. It covers an area of about 19 hectares (47 acres), though about 6 hectares (15 acres) at the north end is built over. The plateau is ringed to the south and east with a line of cliffs which descend to the second of the Southern Plateaux, Europa Flats, which is itself ringed by sea cliffs. Both plateaux are the product of marine erosion during the Quaternary period and subsequent tectonic uplift. Windmill Hill was originally on the shoreline and its cliffs were cut by the action of waves, before the ground was uplifted and the shoreline moved further out to the edge of what is now Europa Flats.

The plateau has had military importance throughout the period of British rule over Gibraltar (1704 to present). It was fortified in the 1770s as part of the improvement schemes of Chief Engineer Colonel William Green prior to the Great Siege of Gibraltar.John Drinkwater, who served in Gibraltar during the siege, commented in his History of the Late Siege of Gibraltar that "the retired and inaccessible lines of Windmill Hill have great command, and being situated within musket-shot of the sea, are very formidable, and of great consequence in that quarter."

A series of artillery batteries was constructed there during the 19th century to support the lower-level defences on Europa Flats and to enfilade any potential attackers landing in the area. The batteries included Buffadero Battery, Edward VII Battery, Jews' Cemetery Battery, Levant Battery and Windmill Hill Batteries. The flat terrain of the plateau also lent itself well to accommodating mobile gun sites, between which guns could be moved as required. At the head of the plateau, the Retrenched Barracks provided garrison accommodation and served as a small fortress that could be used to block an enemy's attempt to gain access to the heights of the Rock.

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