Cast iron cannon ball spherical in shape with some lumps of iron oxide accretion on the surface, but generally undamaged. Without the accretions, the ball is about 41 mm in diameter or 1.6 inches and so was probably fired from a 16th-century Spanish muzzle-loading swivel gun such as the esmeril swivel gun which had an external bore of 2 inches. These guns were used by the Spanish Armada, particularly on the boat the Girona, and also by the Spanish when they attacked Paul church in 1595 on the other side of bay from where this cannon ball was found.
Paul was one of the communities along with Mousehole, Newlyn, and Penzance to be destroyed in the Spanish raid of 1595 carried out by Carlos de Amésquita, who was a Spanish naval officer. He is remembered for an action taken while on a naval patrol, known as the Battle of Cornwall, during the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585-1604. Amésquita commanded three companies and four galleys (named Capitana, Patrona, Peregrina and Bazana). They disembarked at Penmarch in Brittany on July 26, 1595, and then arrived in Mount's Bay in Cornwall on August 2, 1595.
After burning the town of Mousehole, Amésquita and his men embarked on their galleys and sailed for two miles, after which they disembarked again, conquered and burned the forts of Penzance and Newlyn. They celebrated a mass in which they promised to build a church after England had been defeated.
Cast iron cannon ball spherical in shape with some lumps of iron oxide accretion on the surface, but generally undamaged. Without the accretions, the ball is about 41 mm in diameter or 1.6 inches and so was probably fired from a 16th-century Spanish muzzle-loading swivel gun such as the esmeril swivel gun which had an external bore of 2 inches. These guns were used by the Spanish Armada, particularly on the boat the Girona, and also by the Spanish when they attacked Paul church in 1595 on the other side of bay from where this cannon ball was found.
Paul was one of the communities along with Mousehole, Newlyn, and Penzance to be destroyed in the Spanish raid of 1595 carried out by Carlos de Amésquita, who was a Spanish naval officer. He is remembered for an action taken while on a naval patrol, known as the Battle of Cornwall, during the Anglo-Spanish War of 1585-1604. Amésquita commanded three companies and four galleys (named Capitana, Patrona, Peregrina and Bazana). They disembarked at Penmarch in Brittany on July 26, 1595, and then arrived in Mount's Bay in Cornwall on August 2, 1595.
After burning the town of Mousehole, Amésquita and his men embarked on their galleys and sailed for two miles, after which they disembarked again, conquered and burned the forts of Penzance and Newlyn. They celebrated a mass in which they promised to build a church after England had been defeated.
A RDF representation of CORN-1B4113
2015-08-17T11:14:41+01:00
2015-08-17T15:42:29+01:00
CORN-1B4113
CORN-1B4113
GB
en-GB
The Trustees of the British Museum
The Trustees of the British Museum
1
http://purl.org/NET/Claros/vocab#Thumbnail
Attribute as courtesy of the British Museum
A thumbnail image of CORN-1B4113
Iron
Primary material of object
Complete
41.
Diameter
41.
Height
243.78
Weight
By Attribution 3.0
The period from for the object
Attribute as courtesy of the British Museum
A full resolution image of CORN-1B4113
1585
1604
Method of manufacture