Saint Paul's Battery

Saint Paul's Battery (Maltese: Batterija ta' San Pawl), also known as Ta' Lombardi Battery (Maltese: Batterija ta' Lombardi), is an artillery battery in Marsaxlokk, Malta. It stands on high ground at the shoreward end of Delimara Point, above il-Ħofra-z-Zgħira. It is a polygonal fort and was built by the British from 1881 to 1886. It commands a field of fire northwards over St Thomas' Bay and Marsaskala.

Saint Paul's Battery
Batterija ta' San Pawl
Marsaxlokk, Malta
Saint Paul's Battery
Coordinates35°50′36″N 14°33′36″E
TypeArtillery battery
Area13,500 m2 (145,000 sq ft)[1]
Site information
Open to
the public		No
ConditionAbandoned
Site history
Built1881–1886
Built byBritish Empire
In use1886–1900
MaterialsLimestone and concrete

Approximately 350 m (1,150 ft) south is Fort Tas-Silġ, a much larger polygonal style fortification.

History

St Paul's Battery was built between 1881 and 1886 by the British to help Fort Tas-Silġ cover the defence of St Thomas Bay. The battery has a D-shape, with three gun emplacements for RML 7 inch gun, which were mounted on six-foot platforms. Its gun crew and garrison were stationed at Fort Tas-Silġ.

The battery's guns were removed and it was abandoned 1900 since it had lost its importance as a defensive position.[2]

Present day
Entrance to an underground magazine at St. Paul's Battery

The battery remains abandoned to this day and in very poor condition. It is covered with trees and shrubs and its ditch is filled with debris, but the gun emplacements, ditch and entrance to its underground magazine are still visible.[3]

In 2015, the battery was shortlisted as a possible site for the campus of the proposed American University of Malta. It was not chosen, and the campus is to be split up between Dock No. 1 in Cospicua and Żonqor Point in Marsaskala.[4]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to St. Paul's Battery.
  1. "The American University of Malta - Preliminary Alternative Sites Evaluation Report" (PDF). Office of the Prime Minister. August 2015. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2015.
  2. "Delimara Gas and Power Combined Cycle Gas Turbine and Liquefied Natural Gas receiving, storage and re-gasification facilities - Environmental Impact Assessment - Appendix Two Volume One" (PDF). MEPA. ERSLI Consultants Ltd on behalf of Enemalta Corporation. 20 December 2013. p. 33. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 March 2015.
  3. "St Paul's Battery". Wikimapia. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  4. "'American' University to occupy Dock 1 buildings and reduced Zonqor site". Times of Malta. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2015.


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