Middle Hill Battery  Middle Hill Battery is an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. It is located on Middle Hill, at the northeastern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, just south of Green's Lodge Battery and Rock Gun Battery. The emplacement dates to 1727, when a single gun was mounted. By the turn of the twentieth century, six 10-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns were present at Middle Hill Battery. Other buildings documented at that time as part of the battery complex included the Nursery Hut (barrack accommodation) and the Middle Hill Group, the latter a cluster of buildings which perched on the cliff edge. An anti-aircraft Bofors gun had been installed at the battery by the Second World War. After the war, the area transitioned to use as a Ministry of Defence aerial farm. In 2005, the battery and surrounding area were transferred to the Government of Gibraltar. The site is now managed by the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society. Middle Hill Battery is in Gibraltar, the British Overseas Territory at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. The artillery battery is located at the northeastern end of the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. The emplacement is positioned on Rock Gun Road, at Middle Hill, south of Green's Lodge Battery and Rock Gun Battery. It can be accessed on foot by the Middle Hill Nature Trail, more formally known as Middle Hill Road, which extends along a low wall to the battery complex. However, the condition of the trail bears little resemblance to a road. In 1727, a single gun was mounted at Middle Hill Battery. In the eighteenth century, guards were regularly posted at the battery. This was primarily to prevent desertions, as soldiers had, on a number of occasions, lowered themselves down the cliff by means of ropes. In at least one instance, it was a guard who attempted to desert. In January 1783, some sparks started a fire in an ammunition box at one of the buildings in the Middle Hill Battery complex. The explosion destroyed the guardhouse and part of the wall, injuring several of the guards as well. The damaged facilities were quickly repaired. By the middle of the nineteenth century, in 1859, there was still only one cannon present at Middle Hill Battery. However, by 1900, six 10-inch rifled muzzle-loading guns were present in a layout similar to that at Spyglass Battery. The changes at the turn of the twentieth century are shown in the 1908 Ordnance Survey map "(pictured at left)", which demonstrates two rows of three guns.