Captain William Jumper a name whispered on the wind. His legacy echoes in the very stones of North Jumper’s Bastion. Right here before you stands a testament to Gibraltar’s rich history.
North Jumper’s Bastion wasn’t always what you see today. It began life as the Spanish Santa Cruz Bastion. A formidable structure designed by the Florentine architect Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino in 1575. The Spanish called it the Baluarte de Santa Cruz. This original bastion was built on the site of earlier Moorish towers. These older towers formed part of a crenellated wall defending Gibraltar’s western approaches. They were visible in Anton van den Wyngaerde’s 1567 sketches.
The British captured the bastion in 1704. They renamed it the Eight Gun Battery. Captain William Jumper one of the first British officers ashore during the capture gave the bastion its current name. The bastion was rebuilt in 1785 shortly after the Great Siege.
In 1841 General Sir John Thomas Jones deemed North Jumper’s Bastion too small. He proposed enlarging it. The rebuilding between 1844 and 1847 transformed it into a demi-bastion. It features a long south flank with embrasures for six guns. Below these are six casemated bombproof barracks. Each barrack could hold 32 men. Additional rooms are located on the north and south flanks. Musketry embrasures were added to the face and north flank.
A proposed replacement with a 24 gun flat bastion never materialized. By 1880 all the guns were removed. A photograph from the early 1880s shows the empty embrasures.
During World War II North Jumper’s Bastion became headquarters for Commander Lionel Crabb. He and his Royal Navy frogmen dealt with limpet mines attached to Allied ships.
After the war the bastion provided emergency housing for Gibraltarians. It is now used as clubhouses for local dancers and a Taekwondo gym. A seafood restaurant sits atop its southern platform. North Jumper’s Bastion a silent observer of centuries of history. Its stones whisper tales of sieges battles and the brave men who defended this vital point.