Ancient Cannon Discovered in Kingston upon Hull

Recently, construction workers in Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, stumbled upon a cannon that’s around 300 years old. This discovery occurred during routine construction work, as confirmed by Hull City Council earlier this year.

Once unearthed, the cannon was examined by archaeologists from Humberfield Archaeology, which is part of Hull City Council. The cast iron piece likely dates back to the late 17th or early 18th century, measuring about 9 feet long and tipping the scales at over a ton.

According to the council, initial inspections revealed that the cannon had been decommissioned, with its nozzle sealed off. It’s believed that it was repurposed as a mooring, a common practice in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before ending up in a dock area and subsequently reclaimed in the 1930s.

Photos from the excavation show a heavily stained and corroded iron cannon on-site. Peter Connelly, the archaeology manager at Humberfield, shared that the discovery was quite unexpected. He noted that the contractors were, well, taken aback and didn’t initially even recognize it as a cannon.

Connelly explained that the area being excavated was expected to yield dock backfill, so this find came as a surprise. He remarked, “This just goes to show that people, when backfilling, often toss in whatever is convenient.” While such finds do happen occasionally, he described this discovery as “definitely very unusual.”

In the past, archaeologists have uncovered fragments from the era of Henry VIII and even a cannon from just before the English Civil War back in the late 1990s. Connelly noted that this cannon marks only the third significant find like this in the last three decades.

Interestingly, they were anticipating more common items like 20th-century household waste. Connelly recalled finding a complete glass decanter from the late 19th century during a previous excavation, humorously suggesting someone was probably quite upset about losing it.

The archaeologists observed clear signs that the cannon had been intentionally decommissioned before its reuse. After the dock ceased operations, it was backfilled and eventually transformed into a garden, rendering the mooring post ineffective. As a result, the cannon ended up tilted due to the backfill.

Moving forward, researchers plan to analyze the cannon further to determine if it was manufactured in Hull, as the city did have its own cannon production in the late 18th century. Connelly expressed enthusiasm about continuing the investigation, stating, “We’re working to pinpoint the exact time it was cast, where it was made, and if possible, who was responsible for its creation.”