Garrison Library

From GibMap

The Garrison Library was the brainchild of Colonel Drinkwater who was stationed in Gibraltar during the Great Siege. Being trapped on the Rock for four years without any books, he was determined not to have to endure another siege without reading material, and so set up the Library for the use of the officers at the garrison. The library was built at Governors Parade on the site where the Spanish Governor's residence had once stood and inaugurated in 1793. The present building was largely completed by1804, with a new wing added in 1867. Over the years it became renown for its comprehensive collection of works on Gibraltar.

Within the complex were the offices of the Gibraltar Chronicle, which is the second oldest newspaper having been founded in 1801. Its most famous scoop was the report of the victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.