Poca Roca Cave
| Poca Roca Cave | |
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Poca Roca by Rev. Cooper Willyams in 1782 | |
| Location | under the Middle Hill of the Rock of Gibraltar |
| Geology | Limestone |
| Entrances | 1 |
| Website |
underground-gibraltar |
Poca Roca Cave is a cave in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is below Middle Hill.[1]
Geography
Gibraltar is sometimes referred to as the "Hill of Caves" and the geological formation of all the caves is limestone. The Poca Roca Cave fissure runs through the Rock of Gibraltar in a general west-east direction all the way from Bell Lane in the old town area to Catalan Bay on the coast. [2]
History
During the three-and-a-half-year-long Great Siege of Gibraltar the population of the Rock made use of the caves to shelter from the bombardment. Beefsteak Cave was used by Gibraltarians whilst Poca Roca cave was prepared for use by the Governor of Gibraltar.[1] This cave was later used as a storage area for gunpowder after the siege had been abandoned in 1783.[1] Nearby batteries are Green's Lodge Battery and Middle Hill Battery.
In the 1860s, Captain Fred Brome, the governor of Gibraltar's prison, sought permission from the Governor of Gibraltar to explore Martin's Cave, as well as St. Michael's Cave, Fig Tree Cave and this cave, with the objective of finding archaeological evidence of the past use of the caves. The Governor agreed and a ten-member team of prisoners began the explorations. Martin's Cave was the first to be explored.[3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Drinkwater, John (1786). "2". History of the Late Siege of Gibraltar. London: Spillbury. p. 356.
previous to the bombardment, for the Governor's reception ; but was afterwards converted into a powder magazine, being very convenient for the batteries on the heights.
- ↑ Warren, Charles. "Proceedings". doi:10.1017/S0016756800161898. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
- ↑ International Congress of Prehistoric Archaeology (1869). Transactions of the third session which opened at Norwich on the 20th August and closed in London on the 28th August 1868. London: Longmans, Green, and co. pp. 113, 134, 136–. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
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