Lord Airey's Battery

Lord Airey's Battery
Part of Fortifications of Gibraltar
Upper Rock Nature Reserve, Gibraltar
O'Hara's Battery (foreground, left) and Lord Airey's Battery (gun barrel showing midground, left)
Map of O'Hara's Battery (A-E), Engine Room (F), Equipment Exhibit (G), and Lord Airey's Battery (H)
Lord Airey's Battery is located in Gibraltar
Lord Airey's Battery
Lord Airey's Battery
Coordinates36°07′29″N 5°20′36″W / 36.124784°N 5.343277°W / 36.124784; -5.343277
TypeArtillery Battery
Site information
OwnerGovernment of Gibraltar
Open to
the public
Yes
Site history
Built1890-1891

Lord Airey's Battery is an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located near the southern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, just north of O'Hara's Battery. It was named after the Governor of Gibraltar, General Sir Richard Airey. Construction of the battery was completed in 1891. The first gun mounted on the battery was a 6-inch breech loading gun, which was replaced with a 9.2-inch Mark X BL gun by 1900. The gun at the battery was last fired in the 1970s. In 1997, it was discovered that Lord Airey's Shelter, adjacent to Lord Airey's Battery, was the site chosen for a covert World War II operation that entailed construction of a cave complex in the Rock of Gibraltar, to serve as an observation post. The battery is listed with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.