The Victoria Lines are a series of fortifications in Malta built by the British between 1870 and 1899. Their defining feature is a continuous infantry wall which connects together three forts (at Binġemma, Mosta and Madliena) and a number of other gun batteries and ancillary military facilities to form a single line of defence.

This is some 12 kilometres in length and it follows the contour of the Great Fault, a geological fault line which cuts across Malta from coast to coast; specifically from Fomm ir-Riħ in the west to Madliena in the east.

Forming part of the same defensive system are also an additional fort (at Pembroke) and extensive military barracks (at Mtarfa and Pembroke).

The best way to appreciate the nature and scale of the Victoria Lines is by walking along their length. The following is a very short description of the two extremities.

A drawing showing the Fomm ir-Riħ redoubt (from the Victoria Lines Record Plan, now at the UK National Archives in Kew – reference WO78/5301).

The western end of the Victoria Lines: the Fomm ir-Riħ Infantry Redoubt

The principal landmark nearest the western extremity of the Victoria Lines is the Fortified Searchlight Emplacement at il-Kunċizzjoni which has recently been restored through the joint initiative of the Mġarr local council and the University of Malta, with the support of the HSBC Malta Foundation. The site is now designated as the I-Land Observatory and Field Centre.

The Victoria Lines infantry wall descending towards Fomm ir-Riħ.

From the Kunċizzjoni Fortified Searchlight Emplacement, the Victoria Lines continued down in the direction of Fomm ir-Riħ Bay. Documents which form part of the Victoria Lines Record Plan (compiled in 1901) show that the wall continued all the way down to an infantry redoubt directly overlooking Fomm ir-Riħ Bay.

At first glance, one is likely to conclude that nothing remains of this redoubt but, on closer examination, one can still discern some signs of it. The redoubt at Fomm ir-Riħ was protected by a ditch which is still visible in the form of a channel directing rainwater into a reservoir, this being of more recent construction. Also still visible are some of the bottom courses of the infantry wall surmounting parts of what used to be the ditch.

This screenshot from Google Maps shows the relative location of (A) Fort Madalena; (B) the eastern extremity of the Victoria Lines infantry wall; (C) Madliena Tower; (D) Fort Pembroke; and (E) Pembroke Battery.

The eastern end of the Victoria Lines: Madliena Tower and Fort Pembroke

At its eastern end in Madliena, the Victoria Lines infantry wall continued down towards the coast. Numerous private residencies abut the wall along this stretch such that the original patrol path is no longer accessible. However, one can make an uphill detour to visit Fort Madalena, also known as Fort Madliena, before resuming the route downhill.

When the Victoria Lines were built, there was already a track which roughly followed the coastline from St Julian’s in the direction of Qalet Marku. The infantry wall intersected this track and extended a short distance beyond it.  Since then, this track has been considerably widened to become the Coast Road which we know today. As a result, the infantry wall now terminates at the point where the road coming down from Madliena meets the Coast Road. Along this stretch, the wall serves as the humble border to the flanking villas before being anonymously integrated within the boundary wall of this arterial road.

Madliena Tower

The infantry wall terminated about 500 metres from the seashore. Covering this gap and securing the shoreline in that area were the Madliena Tower and Fort Pembroke.

Madliena Tower was built by the Knights in 1658 under Grand Master Martin de Redin. It was subsequently modified by the British to take a 64-pounder RML (rifled muzzle loader) gun on a traversing carriage mounted on a central pivot, on the tower’s roof.

Fort Pembroke is situated just over two kilometres behind the Victoria Lines infantry wall but it was still, nevertheless, conceived as part of the same, overall defensive system. Work on this fort was completed in 1879. It was designed to mount three heavy RML guns facing the coast. Conversely, the sides of the fort facing landward were mostly taken up by ramps and gun platforms for field guns.

Around the closing years of the 19th century, new Breech Loading (BL) guns began to replace the RML guns for purposes of coastal defence. In the case of Fort Madalena, this led to the construction of a new extension to the fort in the shape of an open battery to mount two 9.2-inch BL guns which were in place by 1905. However, in the case of Fort Pembroke, the decision was taken to build a new battery altogether, a short distance from the fort. Referred to as Pembroke Battery, it was built to house two 9.2-inch BL guns and it was completed in 1899.

Today Fort Pembroke forms part of the campus of the Verdala International School. Only half of the nearby Pembroke Battery is still extant (i.e. one gun emplacement out of the original two).

A drawing of Fort Pembroke (from its Record Plan, now at the UK National Archives in Kew – reference WO78/4283).

The author is co-founder of the Friends of the Victoria Lines Trail which aims at increasing awareness of the Victoria Lines and their potential to be developed into Malta’s first National Trail.

www.facebook.com/FriendsofTheVictoriaLinesTrail