Mediterranean Cave

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Mediterranean Cave
Gibraltar

The Mediterranean Cave in The Illustrated London News, 1902
Co-ordinates: 36°7’44"N, 5°20’32"W
Length: 350
Geology: limestone

Mediterranean Cave is a cave in Gibraltar,[1] found to the south of Sandy Bay on the east side of the Rock, behind oil tanks.[2]

The cave has pillboxes and a fallout shelter nearby, these all being mentioned in the Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018.[3]

History

A cave with this name is recorded by Colonel E. R. Kenyon as having been occupied in 1779–1783 during the Great Siege of Gibraltar. However, it is not known which cave that was. The present Mediterranean Cave was discovered in August 1902[4] as the result of quarrying by the Admiralty. The cave was 40 feet high, 70 feet wide and 350 feet long. Because of its size, it was referred to as a "mammoth cave", but there was already a cave of that name on Gibraltar.[5] A photo of the recently discovered cave's stalactites was included in The Illustrated London News that November,[6] and the story was picked up in Australia.[7] The cave was still being called "Mammoth" in those reports, but it was then called "Mediterranean Cave".[5]

In 1910 a description of the best caves of Gibraltar singled out this "great cave" as "a most remarkably fine stalactite cave, containing stalactites and stalagmites of an infinite variety of form and size."[8]

The cave became an Admiralty Distillery in 1942.[9]

This cave is considered significant by the Government of Gibraltar and is specifically listed in the Heritage and Antiquities Act passed in 2018. The act notes the pillboxes and the fallout shelter by the cave, and these are also included in the government's listing.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Location of Caves - Gibraltar". Scribd. https://www.scribd.com/doc/94284331/Location-of-Caves-Gibraltar. Retrieved 17 February 2013. 
  2. ↑ "The Gibraltar Tunnels" by Tito Vallejo
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018". Gibraltar Gov Records. 2018. https://www.ministryforheritage.gi/uploads/Heritage%20and%20Antiquities%20Act/Heritage%20Report%20final%2024072018.pdf. 
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named acland
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Mediterranean Cave" (in en). https://www.ministryforheritage.gi/heritage-and-antiquities/mediterranean-cave-1016. 
  6. ↑ "A Stalactite Cave Recently Discovered ...". Illustrated London News. 8 November 1902. 
  7. ↑ "A MAMMOTH CAVE.". West Australian. 1902-08-29. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/24842246. 
  8. ↑ Kenyon, Major General Edward Ranulph (December 1910). "Gibraltar under Moor, Spaniard, and Briton". The Royal Engineers Journal XII (8): 420–423. https://www.nzsappers.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/1910-December.pdf. 
  9. ↑ "The Gibraltar Tunnels" by Tito Vallejo


Caves of Gibraltar

Abbot's • Alameda Grotto • Ape's Den • Beefsteak • Bell's Backyard • Bellman's • Bennet's • Blackstrap • Boathoist / Bulman's • Bray's • Brown's • Buena Vista • Buffadero • Caleta Palace • Camp Bay • Catalan Bay Road • Catalan Bay • Catchment • Cave S • Collin's • Comcen • Coptic • Cormorant • Cousin's • Crystal • Crystal Cavern • Cumberland • Dead Man's • Devil's Dustbin • Devil's Fall • Devil's Gap • Devil's Tower • Diesel's Delight • Douglas • Dudley Ward's • E Queen's Line • Europa Advance • Europa Pass • Fig Tree • Forbe's Quarry • Genista Caves • George's Bottom • Gibbon's • Glen Rocky, Shelter • Goat's Hair • Goat's Head • Gorham's • Gunn's • Harley Street • Hayne's • Holy Boy's • Horseshoe • Ince's • John's Giant • Judge's • Landport • Leonora's • Levant • Liddell's Union • Lookout • Mammoth • Marble Arch • Martin's • Martin's Guard • McNeil's • Mediterranean • Middle Hill • Monkey's • Moorish Castle Barracks • Moor's • Mount Misery • Mousterian Rock Shelter • Mushroom • Nameless • Nursery • O'Hara's • Operation Monkey • Painter's • Parson's Lodge • Pete's Paradise • Poca Roca • Queen's • Queen's Lines • Ragged Staff • Reservoir 4, & 5 • Reservoir Fissure • Rifle Dustbin • Rock Fall • Rock Gun • Rock Gun Catchment Shelter • Ronald's Delight • St Michael's, Old, New, Lower, Roof Passage • Sandy: Lower, Upper • Sapper's Bog Scorpion • Sea Caves • Shed • Signal Troop • Smart's Well Reserve • Smith’s • Smuggler's • South • Spanish Mine • Spider • Spur Road • Star Chamber • Swallow's Nest • Tina's • Transmitter • Upper All's Well • Vanguard • Viney Quarry • William's • Willis • Wilson's • Winkies

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