Southsea Castle Artillery - Clarence Esplanade, Southsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK - Static Artillery Displays on Waymarking.com

As we enter the castle there are several cannons in the courtyard, most of them are mounted on wheels. On one particular cannon there is a coat-of-arms with the inscription: 'This gun which formed part of the armament of the Royal George, was recovered from the wreck of that Ship HMS Charles Antony Dean, in the year 1834.' Other cannons are displayed on wooden blocks.

Around the castle there are many cannons which are detailed below.

In a window is a small cannon:
'Breech-loading gun designed by Joseph Whitworth in 1876. The gun fired a 3lb solid iron shot. The bore and shot are hexagonal and represent an experiment in rifling.

Presented by 457 (Wessex) Regiment R.A., T.A., Isle of Wight Battery.'

Inside a room stands a shell:
'Studded Shell for a ten-inch R.M.L. (Rifled Muzzle Loader) Gun of the 1870's. The non-ferrous studs engaged in grooves which rotated around the bore of the gun and imparted a spin to the shell on firing.'

Another window shows a cannon:
'Rifled 3-Pounder Gun
This type of gun was designed by Joseph Whitworth in 1876. The bore (the chamber inside the gun) has a hexagonal cross-section and rotates slightly along the length of the barrel. This arrangement was designed to spin the shells as they were fired, thus increasing their range and accuracy. These guns had a tendency to jam, so the design was not widely adopted.

In 1856 Whitworth invented a machine capable of measuring to an accuracy of one millionth of an inch, and the specifications that he developed for sizes of screw threads in 1860 are still used today!'

Two small mortars on the floor are mounted in carriages:
'Royal Mortar
Mortars were specially designed to fire at very high angles, so that they could target enemies hidden behind obstacles such as city walls.'

A cabinet holds a selection of artefacts:
'During renovation work to this Castle the original Tudor well was discovered. It contained 8 stone cannon balls, 2 pottery flasks (1 complete, 1 incomplete), Part of an oak-stave bucket and wooden pulley block, Several large flint pebbles with natural perforations, used as a counterweight for the bucket.'

A wall cabinet details guns through the ages:
'Changes in gun technology over the centuries'
There are four items with the text detailed in the gallery - '1. Iron swivel gun, 2. Iron and stone cannonballs, 3. Hexagonal 3lb shells from a Whitworth rifled gun, 4. Model of a breech loading naval gun.'

Two small guns are located in another window and a Breech-loading Gun is shown in a cabinet:
'7-inch Rifled Breech-loading Gun
This type of gun, developed by Sir William Armstrong, was introduced in the 1860s, and represented a major step forward in artillery technology.

The barrel was rifled: curving grooves inside the barrel made the shell spin as it was fired. This dramatically improved both the range and accuracy of the gun. To make it stronger, and so more powerful, it was constructed from wrought iron rather than cast iron and the barrel was built up from a series of tubes, one inside the other. The gun was loaded at the breech (the rear) rather than at the muzzle to increase the rate of fire.

Scale 1:4. Mounted on a sliding naval carriage.

On loan from the Royal Artillery Historical Trust.'

A model in situ is shown in a display cabinet:
'64-Pounder gun
Model of a 64-pounder gun on a traversing platform. Positions for seven of these cannon were created at Southsea Castle in around 1850. This model was made in 1978 by a prisoner from Kingston Prison.'

An effective display with figures loading a cannon is behind a chain-barrier:

'A Tudor cannon in action

This scene shows the type of cannon that was used at Southsea Castle in the Tudor period (the decades after the castle was first built). It is a breech-loading gun, meaning that it was loaded at the rear end of the barrel. This type of gun was inaccurate and unreliable compared to later weapons. Guns sometimes blew up, killing or wounding members of the gun crew.

Southsea Castle originally had three gun ports on this side of the keep, facing the sea. By the late 17th century these gun ports were no longer needed, and they were sealed up by Sir Bernard de Gomme who also made other changes to the castle.

The Tudor gun port in the room next door was re-excavated in 1966 during restoration of the Castle. On the wall in front of you, you can see the arch that shows the position of another gun port, which is still filled in.

Please don not enter the scene or touch the exhibits.'

What type of artillery is this?: Various Guns, Cannons, Shells and Mortar Where is this artillery located?: Monument grounds What military of the world used this device?: Naval Service Date artillery was in use: 01/01/1800 Cost?: 0.00 (listed in local currency) Artillery is no longer operational: no Still may work: no Are there any geocaches at this location?: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=3e7cdcba-a23f-4be0-a545-55c1276140ba Date artillery was placed on display: Not listed Parking location to view this Waymark: Not Listed

Visit Instructions:
Two pictures are required for this Waymark. Please take a close up picture of the artillery. Take a second with the artillery in the distance and capture as much of the surroundings as possible. Name the Waymark with first the name of the area and second what the artillery is. An example would be if it were a cannon in front of the Montgomery Armory you would name the Waymark: Montgomery Armory Cannon.

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