Stories from the Military Museum of Menorca (and 7): Expansion of the Castle of San Felipe (second Arrabal)

After the occupation of Menorca in 1708 and before the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht, the British began to enlarge the castle of San Felipe. The garrison remained at about 1,000 men, most of whom lived in houses in the suburbs, in addition to the large number of workers hired for the expansion.

The center of the fortress was the old Spanish castle from the 16th century with its four bastions and among them ravelins. With the British enlargement, four counterguards were built in front of the bastions, two of them joined to form the hornworks. Between the counterguards, four ravelins. And separated more to the vanguard, five lunettes, a redoubt, and three forts. All of them surrounding the fortness complex.

These works had a star shape, the elements separated by moats, and the entire complex was surrounded by a path covered with stockade and glacis. A hospital, several warehouses and powder kegs were also built. There were three small jetties for boats.

For the expansion works, stone continue to be extracted from the subsoil under the fortress. The network of tunnels and underground warehouses (the majority of which exist today) weaves an 8.5 km network distributed on several levels, linking the exterior works with the main core.

As of 1712, near the end of the war, the British forces withdrawn from the peninsula are transferred to Menorca, with the garrison reaching some 2,000 men who mostly stayed in the Arrabal, which is overwhelmed in its capacity. This, together with the need for space to expand the castle, caused the Arrabal to be moved to the west. The demolition and transfer of the houses was ordered, which were reerected again further away but within the stone wall built in 1707 that surrounded the suburb to the west. This gave it a more rectangular configuration.

However, the suburb was too close to the castle, as they would discover years later during the French siege and assault on the castle.