The Planning Authority has granted heritage protection to 11 British-era coastal batteries around Malta, it announced on Monday.
Nine of these buildings, namely the Delle Grazie Battery in Xgħajra, St. Peter’s Battery in Kalkara, Wolseley Battery and St. Paul’s Battery in Marsaxlokk, Għargħur High Angle Battery in Għargħur, Misraħ Strejnu Anti-Aircraft Battery in Żejtun, San Giovanni QF Battery in Swieqi, Wardija Battery in St Paul's Bay and the Żonqor Battery in Marsaskala have been designated as Grade 1 buildings, the highest level of heritage protection that a site can receive.
Two additional buildings, the Cambridge Battery and the Garden Battery, both in Sliema, have been granted Grade 2 scheduling.
The PA said in a statement that it undertook the exercise to safeguard Malta's historic military architecture by recognizing its architectural and historic value.
Most of these structures were originally constructed by the British following the Crimean War and the opening of the Suez Canal to secure British interests in Malta from an increase in naval traffic.
"The designation of these sites highlights the unique role Malta played within the British Empire and in Mediterranean geopolitics," said Daniela Formosa, an officer within the PA’s Heritage Planning Unit.
"The preservation of these sites honours the island’s military history while ensuring these structures can be appreciated for generations to come."
Malta’s British fortifications were a direct result of these heightened European military tensions in the wider Mediterranean context in the late 19th century, especially as nations advanced to ironclad warships and other technologies that outmoded previous Hospitaller defences, the PA said.
With the construction of the Duilio and Dandalo warships by Italy in the 1870s, each armed with 100-ton guns, British fortifications in Malta were promptly upgraded with similar artillery, a decision that reinforced Malta’s defensive capabilities.
Delle Grazie Battery. Photo: PA- Delle Grazie Battery, Xghajra
Works on the Delle Grazie Battery commenced in 1889 as part of a wider project of defence south of the Grand Harbour, and it was to match the Spinola Battery in terms of design, which was being built simultaneously.
The battery was completed in 1893 and its name was derived from the nearby Della Grazie coastal tower. It was designed to be symmetrical in design and almost invisible, and it has a long, rectangular plan, bulging slightly in the middle and enveloped by a narrow ditch with vertical scarp and sloping counterscarp walls, mainly rock-hewn, and with tunnels from the battery itself leading directly into the ditch.
Its unique features, such as caponiers and the sound locator, contribute significantly to its architectural significance.
St Peter's Battery. Photo: PA- St. Peter’s Battery, Kalkara
This Battery is made up of a cluster of independent buildings which are a combination of an early position finding station, which was built in the late Victorian age (1890s) and consisted of seven structures, and a wartime heavy anti-aircraft battery, which was built during the late 1930s and had up to eighteen structures.
However, this site is even more unique given the fact that heavy anti-aircraft batteries of this sort are only found on the British Isles and Malta. The cubic morphology of gun emplacements, the choice of materials and design are a testimony of fortification design and building of the time, and it is important to interpret this battery within these contexts.
Moreover, batteries such as this one are a testament to the collaboration between local materials and craftsmanship; this is reflected in the double-pitched roofing typology of some of the ancillary buildings, which is a rare occurrence in local architecture as it is typically used in British military architecture.
Perhaps the most important element which contributes to its high historic significance is its use during World War 2, and the fact that it was hit during an attack, which led to the death of a number of gunners from the Royal Malta Artillery.
Wolseley Battery. Photo: PA- Wolseley Battery, Marsaxlokk
This Battery was built in 1897 to offer support to St. Paul's Battery, which had to cover the whole area between Delimara Point and Xrobb L-Għaġin by itself.
This battery is significant when compared to other batteries because of its Twydell pattern. This profile pattern was a result of the battle of Plevna in 1877, which brought to the forefront the idea that the most effective tactic was for concentrated musketry defence in earthwork redoubts, low enough to make it incredibly difficult for enemy forces to see the structure itself.
This battery has an oval plan with a glacis in front of these arrangements; these included four barbette emplacements for 6-inch QF (quick-firing) guns and two small, open rectangular emplacements for machine guns arranged in a straight line.
Għargħur High Angle Battery. Photo: PA- Għargħur High Angle Battery, Gharghur
In 1881, the idea to build three batteries along the eastern segment of the Victoria Lines was formulated, this included the Għargħur High Angle Battery, along with the Għargħur left and right Batteries.
Built in 1899, the High Angle battery lies deep inside the valley known as Wied Piswella, the immediate context of this site is still pretty much intact today. It was constructed to mount six 10-inch RML (Rifled Muzzle-Loading) guns on high-angle carriages on the rear of the complex, these were modified to act like howitzers, whose high trajectory enabled these guns to fire at a much further range.
The guns were placed in a row in 1901, flanked by ammunition stores and a cartridge store in the centre, and with a continuous loading platform at a slightly higher level in front of the guns with narrow gauge railway tracks on which trolleys could transport shells and ammunition from the magazines to the gun loading platform. The site also had underground magazines dug into the ridge in front of the guns, which were accessible via tunnels, and gun-crew restrooms on both sides of the gun line.
Misraħ Strejnu Anti-Aircraft Battery. Photo: PA- Misraħ Strejnu Anti-Aircraft Battery, Żejtun
This site is made up of five structures surrounded by a boundary wall. This battery's landscape is still very much rural, with agricultural land and rooms surrounding it.
There are still a number of other British military structures leading up to the battery itself all throughout Triq Xrobb L-Għaġin.
These include Nissen huts, rooms with pitched roofs and even a structure below ground with a stairway leading to its access and two holes on the roof probably used either for ventilation or to retrieve materials from the room below. This is indicative of the fact that the British Military made wide use of the area, rather than the battery in isolation.
San Giovanni QF Battery. Photo: PA- San Giovanni QF Battery, Swieqi
In 1878, Sir Lintorn Simmons, the Inspector General of Fortifications, recommended a gun emplacement on the left-hand side of Fort Madalena.
As a result in 1884, the San Giovanni Battery was constructed at the mouth of the valley known as Wied il-Faħam.
At first, it was proposed to be armed with 40-pdr (pounder) rifled breech-loading guns on overbank siege travelling carriages, but eventually, two 6-pdr QF (quick-firing) guns were installed en barbette on concrete gun emplacements directly into the main trace of the Victoria Lines and with built-in recesses for spare ammunition.
An underground magazine directly behind the gun emplacements with two chambers for ammunition storage was also built on site, approached via a rock-hewn flight of steps.
Just a few metres to the west, two concrete blocks with rivets positioned in a circular fashion on the face of these blocks can be found; these may possibly be searchlight platforms installed to support the battery.
St Paul's Battery. Photo: PA- St.Paul’s Battery, Marsaxlokk
St. Paul’s Battery was proposed in 1881 as part of a greater plan to defend the Southeast part of Malta in case of war, particularly against an invasion from Marsascala Bay and St. Thomas’ Bay.
The shape of this battery was a half-moon, like a capital D; the curved part faced St. Thomas Bay and this was surrounded by a deep ditch with no flanking defences and a glacis.
The configuration of this battery included three gun emplacements, two small rooms for storage cut into the parapet, and a central large, earthen traverse with a shell and cartridge serving room at the level of the gun floor. Beneath this central traverse, the battery also had underground magazines, which one could access through two entrance passages on the sides of the traverse; this enabled officers to retrieve ammunition through tube shafts. The battery offered no gun crew accommodation due to its proximity to Fort tas-Silġ, which also served as a retreat plan in case the battery became overwhelmed.
Wardija Battery. Photo: PA- Wardija Battery, St.Paul’s Bay
This 1915 battery was hastily constructed during World War 1 as soon as it was made clear that Malta's defensive strategy of not defending the island's northern bays was no longer an option. It had two gun emplacements and was armed with two six-inch QF (Quick-Firing) guns.
The Wardija Ridge was chosen as the location for this battery as this area had a clear view of the undefended St. Paul's Bay, and therefore, ships on their way to the Grand Harbour could be clearly identified and surveilled. In fact, this battery remained active throughout World War 1 and it was put under the command of the Western Section Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA).
Misraħ Strejnu Anti-Aircraft Battery. Photo: PA- Żonqor Battery, Marsaskala
Works on Zonqor Battery started in 1881 with the aim of providing a small coastal defence battery above Marsascala Bay at Żonqor point, which was a likely landing place for a small enemy force, despite being considered a difficult landing spot before the construction of this battery.
Like other batteries in the vicinity, such as St. Paul's Battery, the intention for this strategically significant battery was to protect the Marsascala area, but from the Northern side. It was to provide aid and support to Fort San Leonardo, as this fort could not cover the area by itself, and submarine mines placed on the bay were not enough to secure this area.
It is a regular pentagonal, self-defensible battery surrounded by a ditch. The gun emplacements themselves were cut into the thick parapet wall of the battery.
Further features which characterise this battery are a traverse separating the emplacements, two underground magazines and a guncrew shelter accessible via stairs from the traverse.
The main entrance to the battery was protected via a large iron gate with loopholes, and upon entering the battery from the landward side, a steep banquette could be found which enabled the garrison to defend the battery via musketry fire.
Cambridge Battery. Photo: PA- Cambridge Battery, Sliema
This battery is one of two 100-ton gun emplacements constructed towards the end of the 19th century to defend the Valletta and Grand Harbour area.
This was built alongside Fort Rinella, they were almost exact replicas (but inverted) and they are two of the largest built works of defence in Malta. Despite being designed as a battery/gun emplacement, this battery (along with Fort Rinella) contained the characteristics of a fortification in design, it was a self-defensible unit protected by a ditch, drawbridge, barrack accommodation and other facilities which catered for a permanent garrison.
Throughout its period of use, it was manned by thirty-five men of the Royal Garrison Artillery, alongside a detachment of infantry for local defence. The battery is split into different segments, that include a rock-cut ditch with deep, vertical chamfered walls, some even 10 metres high, the basement contains vaulted passages, a sergeant’s room, a guardroom, a courtyard and nine (9) square barrack rooms and the roof level.
The period between the 1970s and 1980s saw the most severe restructuring and remodelling of the battery. This was done to accommodate ancillary facilities for the adjacent Holiday Inn Hotel and the Big Blue restaurant at roof level.
Garden Battery. Photo: PA- Garden Battery, Sliema
Although thought to have been completely destroyed during World War 2, when in 2005 works were being carried out on the Tigne development project, this battery was rediscovered in its entirety.
Due to the limited space available between Fort Cambridge and Fort Tigne, Garden Battery was built on the glacis of the latter fort, following a pentagonal, long and narrow shape. It had two narrow ditches on its seafront and rear-side connected to the ditches at Fort Cambridge and Fort Tigne, thus forming one whole defensive complex.