“Unique” bronze cannon found 360 years after gunpowder explosion sank the ship that restored Charles II to throne

“Unique” bronze cannon found 360 years after gunpowder explosion sank the ship that restored Charles II to throne

The cannon is the latest item to be found at the 'London', a wrecked warship in the Thames Estuary.

James Fair

Published: July 24, 2024 at 12:00 am

A cannon that has been buried on the seabed just off Southend pier in the Thames Estuary has been seen and photographed for the first time in nearly 360 years. 

The rare find was discovered by licensed diver Steve Ellis on the wreck of the ‘London’, a ship that was part of the convoy that brought Charles II back to England when he was restored to the throne in 1660. The ‘London' sank in 1665 after a gunpowder explosion on its way to take part in the Second Anglo-Dutch war.

Diver recording the newly discovered cannon on the protected 'London' wreck, which blew up in 1665 off Southend Pier in Essex. Credit: Steve Ellis

Hefin Meara, who’s in charge of managing protected wreck sites for Historic England, said the ship is known to have had a full complement of 76 cannons, of which 41 are believed to have been salvaged after it was lost.

“We don’t have these guns, they would have been redeployed,” he said explaining the significance of this find. Cannons were very valuable, and the recovered items would have been used until they broke and were melted down and recast.

This cannon was made from bronze and is estimated to be medium-sized, about 2.5 metres long. “These guns are so unique, so individual, but from the measurements that Steve has made it looks like it was made by George Browne in Kent,” Meara said.

Cannon
The bronze cannon is estimated to be about 2.5 metres long. Credit: Steve Ellis

Hefin now hopes that further investigations of the wreck may reveal what’s underneath the cannon such as its gun carriage and implements.

Historic England has protected the cannon with special underwater forensic marking that it first trialled on other wrecks last year. The idea is to deter thieves from stealing the relic because where it came from could be identified. 

“We’ve had instances of cannons being stolen from protected sites over the years,” Meara said. “It’s really hard to police these things.”

The shipwreck lies near a busy shipping lane – this video was recorded while a ship passes overhead. Credit: Steve Ellis

Nearly 1,200 items, including a Dutch cannon, a sundial and Bartman jugs, were recovered from the ‘London’ between 2014 and 2016 after it was first discovered in 2005, and a selection of them are on display at Southend Central Museum. 

Historic England has not ruled out recovering the cannon at some point in the future, but for now it will left where it has lain for the past 359 years – whether it stays visible, however, amid the highly tidal environment and shifting sediments of the Thames remains to be seen.

'London' treasures recovered between 2014 and 2016

A bottle charge from a bandolier that would have been worn across the chest to load a musket, recovered from the London wreck
A bottle charge from a bandolier that would have been worn across the chest to load a musket, recovered from the 'London' wreck. Credit: Cotswold Archaeology
Bartman jug
The handle and the neck of the Bartman jug are broken off and missing. The jug is still covered in marine encrustations, which also obscure the figurative decoration giving this artefact its name. The encrustations will be removed. Credit: English Heritage
Volunteer holding a clay pipe
Volunteer holding a clay pipe. Credit: Luke Mair/Chaos Photography
Dividers
A pair of dividers, a navigational instrument, from the 'London'. Credit: English Heritage
Leather fragment
Leather fragment. Credit: English Heritage
Navigational dividers recovered from the London wreck June 2016
Navigational dividers recovered from the 'London' wreck, June 2016. Credit: English Heritage
Ornate 4cm wide Bronze sundial compass
Ornate 4cm-wide bronze sundial compass. Credit: Steven Ellis
Pewter spoon
Corrosion of pewter artefacts on the marine environment is often compared to the development of pustules. Credit: English Heritage
Signet pipe tamper ring recovered from the London wreck
Signet pipe tamper ring recovered from the wreck. Credit: Carol Ellis
A piece of rope excavated from the London in July 2014
A piece of rope excavated from the 'London' in July 2014. Credit: Luke Mair
Worms in gun carriage
Worms in gun carriage. Credit: English Heritage
Wooden pully block
Wooden pully block Credit: English Heritage
Divers at the wreck site
Divers coming into Southend Pier with finds recovered from the wreck. Credit: English Heritage
Map of 57 protected wreck sites in England
Map of Historic England's 57 protected wreck sites. Credit: Historic England

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James Fair

Wildlife journalist

James Fair writes about wildlife conservation and broader environmental issues for a wide range of publications, including BBC Wildlife and BBC Countryfile magazines. James started his career as a journalist in the early 1990s, then spent a number of years working on conservation projects in South America, including an ultimately doomed effort to reintroduce an orphaned Andean bear cub into the wild in Bolivia. In 1999, James joined BBC Wildlife as a commissioning editor, while later filling the roles of staff writer, environment editor and keyboard destroyer-in-chief. In 2018, he went freelance, and now takes on a range of news, feature and report writing assignments, and is also the editor of the membership magazine of the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES). In 2019, he published his second book, 100 Great Wildlife Experiences: What to see and where.
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