History buffs solve keystone puzzle

A group of knowledgeable locals has solved the mystery surrounding the original location of a 1799 keystone recently moved from Buena Vista Barracks.

The amateur historians responded swiftly to an appeal for information published earlier this week by the Chronicle.

Their efforts were praised yesterday by Dr Kevin Lane, Archaeological Officer for the Gibraltar Government, who highlighted the importance of community engagement in heritage.

“Heritage is not for experts but for us all,” he told the Chronicle.

"The only way we can safeguard heritage is when it is for the people.”

The history of the keystone was pieced together by Major David Seed together with Francis Brancato, Leslie Bruzon, Adolfo Canepa, Tommy Finlayson, John Frendo, Joseph Gingell, Christian Limacher and Colin Risso.

They established that the keystone was originally located at the entrance to a site known as the Hole in the Wall, near to the old Gibraltar Astronomical Society observatory in Windmill Hill, known as Europe's Most Southerly Observatory.

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