Victoria Lines

The Victoria Lines run along a natural geographical barrier known as the Great Fault, from Madliena in the east, through the limits of the town of Mosta in the centre of the island, to Binġemma and the limits of Rabat, on the west coast. The complex network of linear fortifications known collectively as the Victoria Lines, that cut across the width of the island north of the old capital of Mdina, was a unique monument of military architecture.

When built by the British military in the late 19th century, the line was designed to present a physical barrier to invading forces landing in the north of Malta, intent on attacking the harbour installations, so vital for the maintenance of the British fleet, their source of power in the Mediterranean. Although never tested in battle, this system of defences, spanning some 12 km of land and combining different types of fortifications—forts, batteries, entrenchments, stop-walls, infantry lines, searchlight emplacements and howitzer positions—constituted a unique ensemble of varied military elements all brought together to enforce the strategy adopted by the British for the defence of Malta in the latter half of the 19th century, a singular solution which exploited the defensive advantages of geography and technology as no other work of fortifications does in the Maltese islands.[2]

The Victoria Lines owe their origin to a combination of international events and the military realities of the time. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, highlighted the importance of the Maltese islands.[2]

By 1872, the coastal works had progressed considerably, but the question of landward defences remained unsettled. Although the girdle of forts proposed by Colonel Jervois in 1866 would have considerably enhanced the defence of the harbour area, other factors had cropped up that rendered the scheme particularly difficult to implement, particularly the creation of suburbs. Another proposal, put forward by Col. Mann RE, was to take up a position well forward of the original.

The chosen position was the ridge of commanding ground north of the old City of Mdina, cutting transversely across the width of the island at a distance varying from 4 to 7 miles from Valletta. There, it was believed, a few detached forts could cut off all the westerly portion of the island containing good bays and facilities for landing. At the same time, the proposed line of forts retained the resources of the greater part of the country and the water on the side of the defenders; whereas the ground required for the building of the fortifications could be had far more cheaply than that in the vicinity of Valletta. Col. Mann estimated that the entire cost of the land and works of the new project would amount to £200,000, much less than would have been required to implement Jervois' scheme of detached forts.

This new defensive strategy was one which sought to seal off all the area around the Grand Harbour within an extended box-like perimeter, with the detached forts on the line of the Great Fault forming the north west boundary, the cliffs to the south forming a natural, inaccessible barrier; while the north and east sides were to be defended by a line of coastal forts and batteries. In a way, the use of the Great Fault for defensive purposes was not an altogether original idea, for it had already been put forward by the Order of Saint John in the early decades of the 18th century, when they realized that they did not have the necessary manpower to defend the whole island. The Order had built a few infantry entrenchments at strategic places along the general line of the fault, namely, the Falca Lines and San Pawl tat-Tarġa, Naxxar. In fact, the use of parts of the natural escarpment for defensive purposes can be traced back even further, as illustrated by Nadur Tower at Bingemma (17th century), the Torri Falca (16th century) and the remains of a Bronze Age fortified citadel which possibly occupied the site of Fort Mosta.[3]

Plaque of the Victoria Lines

Fort Madalena

Fort Mosta

Fort Binġemma

In 1873, the Defence Committee approved Adye’s defensive strategy and recommended the improvement of the already strong position between the Bingemma Hills and the heights above St. George’s Bay. Work on what was originally to be called the North-West Front began in 1875 with construction of a string of isolated forts and batteries, designed to stiffen the escarpment. Three forts were to be built along the position, at Bingemma, Madliena and Mosta, (designed to cover the western and eastern extremities and the centre of the front, respectively). The first to be built was Fort Bingemma. By 1878, work had still not commenced on the other two and the entrenched position at Dwerja; all of these were to be completed on the budget of 200,000. General Simmons recommended that the old Knights’ entrenchments located along the line of the escarpment at Tarġa and Naxxar were to be restored and incorporated into the defences. He also recommended that good communication roads should be formed in the rear of the lines and that those that already existed be improved. The fortifications of Mdina, the Island’s old capital, were to be considered as falling within the defensive system.

The forts on the defensive line were designed with a dual land/coastal defence role in mind, particularly the ones at the extremities but, due to the topography in the northern part of the island, there were areas of dead ground along the coast and inland approaches which could not be properly covered by the guns in the main forts. As a result, it was decided that new works should be built between Forts Mosta and Bingemma and emplacements for guns placed in them. It was also considered advisable to have new emplacements for guns built to the left of Fort Madalena and in the area between it and Fort Pembroke. The latter fort was built on the eastern littoral, below and to the rear of Fort Madalena, in order to control the gap caused by the accessible shoreline leading towards Valletta. Gun batteries were eventually proposed at Tarġa, Għargħur and San Giovanni. Plans for these works were drawn up but only the one at San Giovanni was actually built and armed, while the two at Għargħur were never constructed and that at Tarġa, although actually built, was never armed.

Military training exercises staged in May 1900 revealed that the Victoria Lines were of dubious defensive value. With the exception of the coastal forts, by 1907 they were abandoned altogether. In World War Two a Nazi invasion seemed likely so the lines were rehabilitated and new guard posts built along them as a second line of defence to the coastal defences. Again the lines were untested.[2] Fort Mosta is still in use as an ammunitions depot, while Fort Madalena is still used by the Communications Information Systems Company of the AFM.

In 1998 the Government of Malta submitted the Victoria Lines to UNESCO for consideration as a World Heritage Site.[5]

Large parts of the fortification walls have collapsed, although some parts in the countryside remain intact and in general the Victoria Lines have fallen into obscurity. The Maltese Tourism Authority is proposing that by the end of 2019 two trails along the Lines will become Malta’s inaugural national walkway.[2]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victoria Lines.

Notes

• Spiteri, Stephen C. (2017). A Visual Guide to the Fortifications of Malta. Photography: Oliver Gatt. BDL Books. ISBN 978-99957-67-38-9.