The Alameda Gardens were planted on instruction from Lieutenant-Governor Sir George Don and opened in 1816. They centered on the Grand Parade where British troops mustered for the famous Night Sortie. Today they are being restored using traditional methods and materials and upgraded into botanical gardens that will combine the aesthetic beauty of the site with living exhibits of botanical interest and conservation value. The gardens have a wooded appearance, with Mediterranean pines and olives forming the canopy and many specimens of Dragon Trees and Palms from the Atlantic Islands. Beds display flora from other sub-tropical areas, including Australia and southern Africa. Feature plants include sizeable individuals of Far Eastern Broad-leaved Podocarp, Australian Silk Oak, Cape Chestnut and Californian Parkinsonia. Of special interest is the large and growing collection of cacti and other succulent plants from around the world, which thrive in Gibraltar’s warm climate. The gardens are centered on “The Dell”, a peaceful area with definite Italian influence in which is displayed the coat-of-arms of Gibraltar and which holds a series of fountains, ponds, and waterfalls. Laid out by a Genoese gardener in 1842 this garden was restored in 1992.

There are two monuments of important figures of history. One column is dedicated to the great defender of Gibraltar during the Great Siege, General Sir George Augustus Elliott. Elliott was rewarded with a pension of £1.500 a year, the Order of the Bath and the thanks of Parliament. The investiture took place in the King’s Bastion. Four years later he was raised to the peerage with the title of Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar.

The bust of Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington was fixed upon the gardens by Governor Sir George Don on the 10th April, 1819. The bust was cast in bronze from guns captured by the Duke. It was erected at a cost of a day’s pay from the entire Garrison. Eighteenth century mortars and guns adorn the squares around these columns.