Ragged Staff Gates
36°08′02″N 5°21′13″W / 36.133882°N 5.353732°W / 36.133882; -5.353732
the public
Ragged Staff Gates are a set of city gates in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. They are located between South Bastion and Ragged Staff Guard, opposite the Navy Boat Sheds.[1]
History
It took some time for Ragged Staff Gates to reach their current size. They open access through the section of the Line Wall Curtain immediately south of South Bastion across the Southport Ditch.
A contractor to the Victualling Yard built a wharf roughly 100 metres (330 ft) long where goods were delivered via steps and a drawbridge. This was known as the Ragged Staff Couvreport.[2] The first gate at Ragged Staff was cut through the defensive wall in 1736. The new gates led to what was known as Ordnance Wharf which projected in front of the Dockyard's North Gate. Behind the gate there was an enclosure defended by soldiers in its guardroom. The flank position had three embrasures in its parapet but appears to have only mounted two guns in 1779.
The nearby Ragged Staff Guard house could be seen by approaching ships. In the 1840s it was said to be a full-time job for the subaltern who had to inspect all the goods that went through the gates.[3] The gates for pedestrian passage were cut through on both sides of the main gates in 1843 and in 1921.[4]
There is debate but no conclusion over the origin of the name "Ragged Staff". One of the possibilities is that it came from the symbol for Morvidus who was a legendary Earl of Warwick. He fought and killed a giant using an uprooted tree, hence the symbol of a ragged staff, but there is no consensus.[5]
References
- ^ Fa, Darren; Finlayson, Clive (2006). The Fortifications of Gibraltar 1068-1945. Osprey Publishing. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-84603-016-1. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ "Historical Gibraltar Attractions". gibraltarinformation.com. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- ^ Patterson, John (1840). Camp and quarters: impressions. p. 198.
ragged staff guard.
- ^ "Ragged Staff Gates - see index". DiscoverGibraltar.com. Archived from the original on 5 September 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
- ^ Berry, William (1828). Encyclopaedia Heraldica Or Complete Dictionary of Heraldry, Volume 2. Sherwood, Gilbert and Piper.
- v
- t
- e
- Bombproof Barracks
- Buena Vista Barracks
- Defensible Barracks
- Grand Casemates
- Lathbury Barracks
- Retrenched Barracks
- South Barracks
- Alexandra Battery
- Breakneck Battery
- Bomb Proof Battery
- Buenavista Battery
- Buffadero Battery
- Calpe Battery
- Castle Batteries
- Catalan Batteries
- Civil Hospital Battery
- Couvreport Battery
- Crutchett's Batteries
- Cumberland Flank Battery
- Detached Mole Battery
- Devil's Bowling Green Battery
- Devil's Gap Battery
- Devil's Tongue Battery
- Edward VII Battery
- Eliott's Battery
- Eliott's Practice Battery
- Engineer Battery
- Europa Advance Batteries
- Europa Batteries
- Europa Pass Batteries
- Farringdon's Battery
- Forbes' Battery
- Gardiner's Battery
- Genista Battery
- Genoese Batteries
- Governor's Lookout Battery
- Grand Battery
- Green's Lodge Battery
- Half Way Battery
- Hanover Battery
- Harding's Battery
- Hayne's Cave Battery
- Hutment Battery
- Jews' Cemetery Battery
- Jones' Battery
- King's Lines Battery
- Lady Augusta's Battery
- Lady Louisa's Battery
- Levant Battery
- Lewis' Battery
- Lighthouse Battery
- Little Bay Battery
- Lord Airey's Battery
- Martin's Battery
- Middle Hill Battery
- Mount Misery Battery
- Napier of Magdala Battery
- New Mole Battery
- North Mole Elbow Battery
- O'Hara's Battery
- Orillon Batteries
- Parson's Lodge Battery
- Prince Ferdinand's Battery
- Prince George's Battery
- Prince Henry's Battery
- Prince of Wales Battery
- Prince William's Battery
- Princess Amelia's Battery
- Princess Anne's Battery
- Princess Caroline's Battery
- Princess Royal's Battery
- Queen's Battery
- Queen Charlotte's Battery
- Raglan's Battery
- Rock Gun Battery
- Rooke Battery
- Rosia Batteries
- Saluting Battery
- Scud Hill Battery
- Signal Hill Battery
- Sir Herbert Miles Promenade
- South Batteries
- Spur Battery
- Spyglass Battery
- St. George's Battery
- Tovey Battery
- Tower Battery
- Upper Battery
- Victoria Battery
- Waterport Battery
- West Battery
- White Rock Battery
- Willis' Battery
- Windmill Hill Batteries
- Woodford's Battery
- Zoca Flank Battery
- Algeciras Gate
- Barcina Gate
- Granada Gate
- Grand Casemates Gates
- Landport
- Prince Edward's Gate
- Queen’s Gate
- Ragged Staff Gates
- Southport Gates
- Landport Ditch
- Southport Ditch
- Eliott's Magazine
- Europa Sunken Magazine
- Flat Bastion Magazine
- Grand Magazine
- Ragged Staff Magazine
- Willis' Magazine
- Admiralty Tunnel
- Great North Road
- Great Siege Tunnels
- Landport Tunnel
- Windsor Gallery
- Devil's Tower
- Giralda Tower
- O'Hara's Tower
- Stanley's Clock Tower
- Tower of Homage
- Tuerto Tower
- Round Tower
This article about a building or structure in Gibraltar is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e