18-Pounder Cannon
IMG_1381
Madeira Road, Plymouth, Devon GBR. An 18-pounder Cannon overlooking the Plymouth Sound with Drake's Island to its right in the middle distance.
This cannon, designed by Thomas Blomefield and cast by the Carron Foundry in Falkirk in 1819, was repurposed as a bollard in HM Dockyard Devonport at the end of its service, bearing grooves from ship cables. On 29 November 2001, Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh KCB ADC, First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, presented this cannon to Plymouth City Council. Thomas Blomefield, appointed Inspector of Artillery in 1780, initiated a comprehensive reproof of ordnance between 1782 and 1785, rejecting nearly half of the artillery pieces. By 1787, he introduced his own cast iron gun design with notable modefications compared to the Armstrong pattern:
By 1792, most gunfounders adopted this "new pattern ordnance," and by the early 1800s, the Royal Navy's fleet of approximately 1,000 ships utilised around 30,000 guns, predominantly cast since 1790. The Napoleonic Wars were fought and won using Blomefield's guns and carronades.
Drake's island incorporates numerous defences/military monuments from 1549 to C20. It was held for Parliament during the Civil War and used for defence purposes until 1958. All buildings and structures are in a derelict condition.
British Cannon Design 1600 - 1800. www.arc.id.au/Cannon.html.
The Coastal Fortifications of Drake’s Island, Plymouth - Plymouth, City of (UA) | Historic England. historicengland.org.uk/listing/heritage-at-risk/search-re....
18-Pounder Cannon
IMG_1381
Madeira Road, Plymouth, Devon GBR. An 18-pounder Cannon overlooking the Plymouth Sound with Drake's Island to its right in the middle distance.
This cannon, designed by Thomas Blomefield and cast by the Carron Foundry in Falkirk in 1819, was repurposed as a bollard in HM Dockyard Devonport at the end of its service, bearing grooves from ship cables. On 29 November 2001, Admiral Sir Nigel Essenhigh KCB ADC, First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, presented this cannon to Plymouth City Council. Thomas Blomefield, appointed Inspector of Artillery in 1780, initiated a comprehensive reproof of ordnance between 1782 and 1785, rejecting nearly half of the artillery pieces. By 1787, he introduced his own cast iron gun design with notable modefications compared to the Armstrong pattern:
By 1792, most gunfounders adopted this "new pattern ordnance," and by the early 1800s, the Royal Navy's fleet of approximately 1,000 ships utilised around 30,000 guns, predominantly cast since 1790. The Napoleonic Wars were fought and won using Blomefield's guns and carronades.
Drake's island incorporates numerous defences/military monuments from 1549 to C20. It was held for Parliament during the Civil War and used for defence purposes until 1958. All buildings and structures are in a derelict condition.
British Cannon Design 1600 - 1800. www.arc.id.au/Cannon.html.
The Coastal Fortifications of Drake’s Island, Plymouth - Plymouth, City of (UA) | Historic England. historicengland.org.uk/listing/heritage-at-risk/search-re....