Historic find at Castle Cornet

Friday 08 March 2019

A cannon ball has been found embedded in a wall at Castle Cornet which might date back as far as the 1600s.

It was discovered this week in an area of the Castle where work to repoint the walls has been going on since December.

It took the stonemasons and Castle staff by surprise as no one knew it was there.

The stonemasons were working about 10ft up from ground level along the wall near Gunners Tower in the Middle Ward of Castle Cornet, when they removed the stones from an area needing repair and they found the metal cannon ball, which is 5inches in diameter, embedded in the masonry about one and a half feet back from the wall face.

Pictured: The cannon ball. 

Guernsey's Historic Sites Curator, Helen Glencross, says they don't yet know the age or origin of the cannon ball, but it has been suggested it might date back to the Civil War of 1642-51.

She says; "during this time the island had declared its support for Parliament while Castle Cornet under its Governor, Sir Peter Osborne, remained Royalist. It was supplied by sea and withstood a siege lasting eight years. Castle Cornet was the last Royalist stronghold to surrender in 1651. We know that cannon fire was exchanged with the island during this period."

The cannon ball itself is already attracting lots of attention, but visitors to the Castle won't be able to see it when the site reopens. 

Mrs Glencross says; "it was a nice surprise for both the stonemasons and staff here at the Castle. We considered if it could remain on show but that was going to be difficult so after full recording by Guernsey Museum archaeologists it was decided that it should be left in situ and covered over again."

Pictured top: The canon ball embedded in the wall at Castle Cornet.