The Victoria Lines Malta

by Ray Cachia Zammit

published by Heritage Books, 2021

In recent years, thanks to the expert research by Stephen Spiteri and the various publications of Ray Cachia Zammit, the Maltese have become aware of a monumental string of fortifications built by the British in the last quarter of the 19th century. These had been relegated to oblivion except for the attentions of some ramblers who frequented some of the still pristine areas of northwestern Malta.

The most recent publication by Cachia Zammit in the Malta Insight Heritage Guides series, The Victoria Lines Malta should go a long way in presenting this historical and unique defence complex to the lay public in a reader-friendly way.

After the opening of the Suez Canal in the 1860s, the importance of Malta as a naval base increased considerably, and the British embarked upon a vast project of fortifications to defend the harbours from seaward attack with a string of forts and batteries along the northeast coastline.

With the ever-developing power of artillery, it became also necessary to protect the harbour environs from enemy bombardment from the rear. This necessitated the construction of defence works as far away as possible from the urban conurbations around the harbours to keep an enemy force landing on the beaches in the north of the island at bay.

The site chosen was the natu­ral fault line bisecting the island just north of Mosta and running from Madliena in the northeast all the way to Fomm ir-Riħ Bay on the western shoreline.

A diagram showing various elements of the Victoria Lines by Stephen Spiteri.

The defining feature of the Victoria Lines is a continuous infantry wall which connects three forts, namely Madliena, Mosta and Binġemma, the entrenchment at Dwejra and a number of batteries in bet­ween. This wall snakes along the edges of the gorges and sheer ravines of the Great Fault, presenting a formidable defence position for the times when it was constructed.

Though planned, surveyed and designed by the Royal Engineers, the works were executed by Maltese labour over some 25 years, and this project obviously generated a volume of work for miners, masons, carriers and ancillary trades, which must have had a positive social and economic impact on Maltese society in the last three decades of the 19th century.

The lines lost their strategic importance and decay, due to natural causes and vandalism, set in

Work on the Victoria Lines was recorded as having been completed in 1899. However, by 1903, the British were already constructing infantry trenches on the Mellieħa Ridge. Stephen Spiteri (British Military Architecture in Malta) has written that “by 1907 it had been officially decided to abandon the position of the Victoria Lines as a frontline of defence and to revert to the policy of conducting the island’s defences from her shores.”

The lines lost their strategic importance, and decay, due to natural causes and vandalism, set in, though parts of them were still manned during World War II as a second line of defence. Despite the fact that they lost their military importance, these lines still offer an insight into the deve­lopment of fortifications in the latter part of the 19th century, and as such form part of Malta’s historical heritage.

British Army soldiers on manoeuvres, c. 1899, firing through the musketry loopholes in the Victoria Lines at Tarġa Gap.

As Cachia Zammit writes: “They also provide some of the best vantage points from where to discover the Maltese countryside, and have themselves become a striking feature within the landscape on which they have at times a most dramatic effect.”

And this is where Cachia Zammit’s passion for the subject comes to the fore. The book carries a plethora of illustrations which bring out the natural beauty of the locations, aided by aerial photography.

Maps, sketches and diagrams by Spiteri simplify the concepts of the defence set-up for the ordinary reader, and period photos of Victorian-era soldiers manning parts of the lines during military manoeuvres give this publication added interest. A fold-out map of the lines at the end of the book makes it easy for readers to identify points where they can join the fortifications from various approaches.

This compact publication should help to generate further interest among the public and makes a strong case for the organisation and maintenance of a heritage trail for tourists and locals alike. The Friends of the Victoria Lines Trail have an active website aiming at increasing awareness of the Victoria Lines and their potential to be developed into Malta’s first national trail.

Steps in this direction have already been taken by various local councils and, more recently, by the Restoration Directorate and by Ambjent Malta to restore parts of these lines and to clear sections of the original patrol path. But these efforts have been sporadic and can be better coordinated to offer a unique experience to all and sundry intent on visiting this ‘Great Wall of Malta’.