Prince Edward's Gate

File:Flat Bastion Map 1908.png map of Gibraltar with Flat Bastion. North to the left. Prince Edward's Gate at lower edge of map, tucked behind orillon of west wall of bastion, next to retired flank.]]

Prince Edward's Gate (pictured at right and below) is located on Prince Edward's Road in Gibraltar, the British Overseas Territory at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula.{{cite web|title=List of Crown Dependencies & Overseas Territories|url=http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/publications-and-documents/treaties/uk-overseas-territories/list-crown-dependencies-overseas|work=fco.gov.uk|publisher=Foreign and Commonwealth Office|access-date=28 September 2012}}{{cite news|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060913-neanderthals.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061114082310/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/09/060913-neanderthals.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 November 2006|access-date=28 September 2012|title=Neandertals' Last Stand Was in Gibraltar, Study Suggests|newspaper=National Geographic News|date=13 September 2006|author=Roach, John|agency=National Geographic Society}}{{cite web|title=Gibraltar Heritage Trust Act 1989|url=http://www.gibraltarlaws.gov.gi/articles/1989-12o.pdf|work=gibraltarlaw.gov.gi|publisher=Government of Gibraltar|access-date=29 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827091758/http://www.gibraltarlaws.gov.gi/articles/1989-12o.pdf|archive-date=27 August 2012|url-status=dead}} The gate is in the Charles V Wall, one of the sixteenth-century fortifications of Gibraltar that formed the early southern defences of the city.{{cite web|title=Historical Gibraltar Attractions - Charles V Wall|url=http://www.gibraltarinformation.com/gibraltar-attractions.html|work=gibraltarinformation.com|access-date=29 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829131313/http://www.gibraltarinformation.com/gibraltar-attractions.html|archive-date=29 August 2012|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Gates & Fortifications|url=http://www.aboutourrock.com/sites/fortifications.htm|work=aboutourrock.com|publisher=About Our Rock|access-date=28 September 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101022932/http://www.aboutourrock.com/sites/fortifications.htm|archive-date=1 November 2012|df=dmy-all}}{{cite journal|title=Gates, Walls & Fortifications|journal=Gibraltar Discover Pocket Guide|date=July 2009|url=http://issuu.com/discovergibraltar/docs/july2009?mode=window&pageNumber=30|access-date=29 September 2012|page=30|publisher=Discover Pocket Guide(s) Gibraltar Ltd}} Prince Edward's Gate, which was constructed in 1790, extends from the northwest corner of the Flat Bastion, another sixteenth-century fortification which projects southward from the Charles V Wall.{{cite book|title=A history of the late siege of Gibraltar, by John Drinkwater|year=1786|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yT4OAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR16|author=Bethune, John Drinkwater|edition=2|access-date=29 September 2012|pages=27–28}} The gate was positioned adjacent to the retired flank of the bastion, behind the orillon of its west wall (pictured in OS map at right), to aid in its defence.{{cite book|title=The Fortifications of Gibraltar 1068-1945|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=9781846030161|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BC5QBR0oB04C&q=retired+flank&pg=PA19|author=Clive Finlayson, Darren Fa|edition=illustrated|access-date=28 September 2012|page=19|date=31 October 2006}}{{cite book|title=The Fortifications of Gibraltar 1068-1945|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=9781846030161|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BC5QBR0oB04C&q=orillon&pg=PA20|author=Clive Finlayson, Darren Fa|edition=illustrated|access-date=28 September 2012|page=56|date=31 October 2006}}{{cite book|title=The history of the Herculean Straits: now called the Straits of Gibraltar: including those ports of Spain and Barbary that lie contiguous thereto. Illustrated with several copper plates, Volume 2|year=1771|publisher=Printed by C. Rivington for the author|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aNs-AAAAYAAJ&q=Gibraltar%2C+retired+flank%2C+gate%2C+defend&pg=PA307|author=James, Thomas|access-date=29 September 2012|page=307}} Prince Edward's Gate overlooked Trafalgar Cemetery to the southwest and the former St. Jago's Cemetery to the northwest.{{cite web|title=Historical Gibraltar Attractions (continued)|url=http://www.gibraltarinformation.com/gibraltar-attractions-2.html|work=gibraltarinformation.com|access-date=28 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226201055/http://www.gibraltarinformation.com/gibraltar-attractions-2.html|archive-date=26 February 2012|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Trafalgar Cemetery |url=http://www.gib.gi/heritage/trafalgar.html |publisher=Gibraltar Heritage Trust |access-date=29 September 2012 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206031504/http://www.gib.gi/heritage/trafalgar.html |archive-date=6 February 2007 }}

There are two guardhouses next to the Prince Edward's Gate. A plaque (link below) adjacent to the sentry box on the north side of Prince Edward's Gate indicates that it was formerly the site of an inscription: "God and the soldier all men adore in time of trouble and no more, for when war is over and all things righted God is neglected and the old soldier slighted."{{cite web|title=Prince Edwards Gates Plaque|url=http://britontherock.wordpress.com/2012/09/15/prince-edwards-gates-plaque/|publisher=Brit on the Rock|access-date=28 September 2012}}

File:Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn by Sir William Beechey.jpg]]

{{main|Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn}}

The gate was named after Prince Edward (2 November 1767 – 23 January 1820), the fourth son of King George III, and later the Duke of Kent (1799) and the father of Queen Victoria (1819).{{cite web|title=Flat Bastion, Flat Bastion Magazine|url=http://www.discovergibraltar.com/pages/mainlogo/mainfrm.htm|work=discovergibraltar.com|publisher=DiscoverGibraltar.com (Click Fortifications, City Walls and Fortifications, Section 3, L Flat Bastion)|access-date=28 September 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905140025/http://www.discovergibraltar.com/pages/mainlogo/mainfrm.htm|archive-date=5 September 2013|df=dmy-all}}{{cite DCB |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/edward_augustus_5E.html |title=Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn |volume=5 |last=MacNutt |first=W.S. |accessdate=29 September 2012}} At the time that the gate was opened, in 1790, the prince (pictured at right) was serving with the military in Gibraltar, as commander of the 7th Regiment of Foot (Royal Fusiliers). There, he developed a reputation as a strict disciplinarian; the prince and his regiment left Gibraltar for Québec the following year, in 1791. However, the Duke of Kent returned as Governor of Gibraltar in May 1802, following the death of Governor General Charles O'Hara who had died the previous February. General Barnett had served as acting governor in the interim. Prince Edward had orders from his brother Prince Frederick, the Duke of York, to restore a sense of military discipline at the garrison. The soldiers had become slovenly, and spent much of their time inebriated. Following his closure of taverns, a mutiny broke out on Christmas Eve 1802. The mutiny and his intended murder had been planned at the Three Guns Tavern, one of only three that the new governor had not closed. The mutiny was unsuccessful but, combined with his general reputation as a harsh disciplinarian, culminated in the duke's forced departure from Gibraltar in 1803.{{cite DNB |wstitle=Kent and Strathern, Edward Augustus |last=Rigg |first=James McMullen |volume=31 |pp=19-20}} However, he refused to give up his position as governor, which he retained in name only. Subsequently, lieutenant governors served in Gibraltar until the duke's death in 1820.{{cite book|title=Nelson's Refuge: Gibraltar in the Age of Napoleon|publisher=Naval Institute Press|isbn=9781612510842|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HThZ_inxa14C&pg=PT68|author=Musteen, Jason R.|access-date=29 September 2012|chapter=Chapter 5 - A Royal Mess|date=15 October 2011}}

Prince Edward's Gate was the subject of stamps issued by the Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau in 1971 and 1993. The issue in 1971 (link below) consisted of a pair of stamps, with two versions of the same view of the gate, one from an early nineteenth century print and the other from a twentieth-century photograph. The issue in 1993 (link below) featured an image of the north side of the gate.{{cite web|title=Stamp Detail - 1971|url=http://www.poppe-stamps.com/?t=6&stamp_no=3162916&grp=d6bf7c563c06312f2d1922d2419d3fc6&qry=c921be157fbf097e4abb536e937b03f5|work=poppe-stamps.com|publisher=Poppe - Stamps|access-date=29 September 2012}}{{cite web|title=Stamp Detail - 1993|url=http://www.poppe-stamps.com/?t=6&stamp_no=2949653&grp=8529c8f5e2a2ac3be16a21eab0f9a560&qry=4bc08fbcfd3efaa575c4a69e8ed49f46|work=poppe-stamps.com|publisher=Poppe-Stamps|access-date=29 September 2012}}{{cite web|title=Gibraltar 1993 - SG706, £1 Prince Edward's Gate, VFU|url=http://www.wooliebackcollectables.com/gibraltar-1993---sg706-1-prince-edwards-gate--vfu-15253-p.asp|publisher=Woolieback Collectables|access-date=28 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003220/http://www.wooliebackcollectables.com/gibraltar-1993---sg706-1-prince-edwards-gate--vfu-15253-p.asp|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}} Prince Edward's Gate continues to provide access through the Charles V Wall. The gate and its two adjacent guardhouses have been listed with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://maps.google.com/?q=36.134988,-5.351838&num=1&t=h&z=20 Google map of Prince Edward's Gate]
• [http://britontherock.wordpress.com/2012/09/15/prince-edwards-gates-plaque/ Photograph of plaque adjacent to Prince Edward's Gate sentry box]
• [http://www.poppe-stamps.com/?t=6&stamp_no=3162916&grp=d6bf7c563c06312f2d1922d2419d3fc6&qry=c921be157fbf097e4abb536e937b03f5 Photograph of 1971 stamps]
• [http://www.poppe-stamps.com/?t=6&stamp_no=2949653&grp=8529c8f5e2a2ac3be16a21eab0f9a560&qry=4bc08fbcfd3efaa575c4a69e8ed49f46 Photograph of 1993 stamp]

Category:Transport in Gibraltar

Category:City gates in Gibraltar