The latest bout of damage occurred some months ago when a heavy vehicle suddenly found itself falling through a hole to a tunnel underneath.
That was when Heritage Malta took the decision to do a full restoration of the Fort St Angelo gateway.
But further investigations showed the extreme deterioration of the whole area. As a result, the proposed restoration of the gateway and its environs, approved yesterday by the Mepa board, will have to be a very heavy intervention.
The proposed works can be subdivided into four parts:
• The external ramp leading to the Main Gate of the Fort.
• The Main Gate façade.
• The main entrance into the Fort just behind the Main Gate and the ramp leading to the lower level of the Fort .
• The sally port leading to De Guirial battery.
Research unearthed a letter from the British naval authorities to the Antiquities Committee regarding the need to reface the gateway of Fort St Angelo which was discussed during the AC’s meeting held on 2 July, 1929.
External Access Ramp
The external ramp leading to the main gate of Fort St Angelo is the only landside link into the Fort, and forms part of the only vehicular access into the Fort. In view of this fact, this historical feature of the Fort has suffered a lot of damage throughout time.
This ramp was built on a rock sub-base and part of the un-hewn rock is still evident along its side walls, thus confirming that notwithstanding past interventions and reconstructions, the original position of the ramp has always been respected. The side-retaining walls are built in ashlar construction supporting the fill material and the inclined coralline limestone flagstones above. The latter is the main paving material forming the ramp and side pedestrian steps into the Fort.
The access ramp leading to the main gate has been severely damaged mainly due to the number of vehicles which in the past, and (heavy) construction vehicles quite recently, accessed the Fort. The side walls, retaining the ramp, are evidently ‘bulging-out’ and a number of the masonry blocks forming the parapet wall, on either side of the ramp, have been dislodged. Higher plants are also growing within the open mortar joints of the retaining walls.
The Main Gate
The Main Gate of the Fort is of British construction and probably replaced the older gate which was of a much simpler architectural style. The poor quality stone used for this construction and the surrounding saline environmental conditions have almost completely stripped, any architectural detailing.
The Method Statement describes the deterioration of the marble coat of arms as well as the marble plaque. As for the masonry, it is being stated that the masonry fabric is severely back-weathered ensuing from the salts present in the stone (due to rising damp, water infiltration and sea spray). In fact most of the stone is powdering and the architectural decorative details have deteriorated to the extent that they will soon be lost forever.
The Main Entrance
The Main Entrance to the Fort just behind the Main Gate was originally a vaulted hall with two doorways on each side. From this hall one could enter the vaulted chambers on the right or enter the lower level of the Fort through a vaulted ramp accessed from another opening on the far left side of the hall.
Unfortunately the original setup of this space was considerably damaged during the war and the British adopted a quick solution to retain the Fort functional at the time rather than restoring the space to its original glory.
The structural condition of the areas behind the Main Gate is of major concern. This area, which was originally vaulted over with a masonry barrel vault, suffered a direct hit during World War II. The repair intervention, executed after the War, did not include the roofing of the area, but retaining side walls were constructed, supported on steel beams. These beams are in a very bad condition and most of them severely rusting. As a consequence the ends of the beams inserted in the walls are expanding and some stone blocks have been dislodged from their original position and others cracked. These walls are supporting backfill and should any of the beams fail, the structure will collapse, hence potentially damaging the surrounding areas of historic significance, and blocking the only entrance into the Fort.
De Guirial Sally Port
This originally vaulted passageway is one of a series of sally ports which links the middle level of the Fort to sea level. The sally port under consideration is the main link between the west middle level of the Fort to Guirial Battery.
The sally port consists of an inclined ramp almost half of which is exposed and the other half passing through a vaulted tunnel until one comes out through an arched opening in the curtain wall overlooking De Guirial Battery on the Grand Harbour.
Unfortunately a section of the vault was completely destroyed during the war and the sally port was blocked and backfilled. A proper survey of the sally port was therefore impossible.
In general, the forms of deterioration are typical of buildings constructed entirely of globigerina limestone being exposed to the elements for several years, the main culprit being rising damp, salt related damage, pollution and lack of maintenance.
Among the reactions received, the Heritage Advisory Committee noted that the interventions being spoken about were too bold and drastic but the architect replied that one has to see the damage on the site to see that no lesser intervention would be enough. Reuben Abela, from Heritage Malta, said that now that HM has its own security on site not a week passes when the security does not report some block of stone or other has fallen down. The situation is very bad.
The Cottonera Waterfront Group in a letter sent in February, denied the damage was caused by heavy vehicles employed by the company and ascribed the damage to long years of neglect.
Two areas where there will be works going on, the ramp and the main gate suffered direct hits during World War II.
On architect Michael Ellul’s suggestion, a copy of an old painting of St Michael will be reinstated in the niche at the back of the main gate.
Mepa chairman Austin Walker said the main issue is the future management of the fort, since there are multiple users – the Knights, Heritage Malta and others. He suggested the creation of a management board as otherwise this restoration will be again in danger.