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During the [[2nd Burma War]], Commodore Tarlton was in charge of the naval operations at the [[Battle of Martaban]] (on the opposite bank of the Salween River to Moulmein) and also at [[Capture of Pegu June 1852|Pegu]]. His ship was HMS Fox. This ship was a vessel of 1,131 tons, built at Portsmouth in June 1821, re-fitted in September 1850, she was a 5th rate ship of the line, indicating a complement of 46 guns. On her quarterdeck she was armed with 10 32-pounder carronades, one of which corresponds exactly to the weight marked on the Moulmein piece.
== Guns found at Mandalay Palace ==
''
For the wind is in the palm trees and the temple bells they say "come you back you British soldier, come you back to Mandalay".''<br />
from 'MANDALAY' by Rudyard Kipling
'''The Pair of Guns at the Entrance'''<br />
These two guns are similar, but cast by different foundries. They are Royal Navy cast iron smooth bore muzzle-loading cannon, as are the other pair, and the bear the Crown and 'P' signifying they have passed proof, that is to say test fired, and they are stamped with the Royal Cipher of George ll (reigned 1727-1760). One gun has a weight of 57cwt-0qrs-8lbs. Quarters refer to one quarter of one hundredweight (20cwt. equals one ton). The other gun would seem to be of very similar weight. Both are 32pdr. demi-cannon of nine and a half feet.<br />
The cannon at Entrance 1, marked W on the trunnion (the trunnions are short iron protuberances which balance the cannon on the gun carriage enabling it to be tilted upwards as necessary) was cast at the Waldron foundry near Heathfield in Sussex, at the time of John Harrison, Ironmaster. The cannon at Entrance 2 was cast a short distance away at the Heathfield foundry by John Fuller (marked JF on the trunnion). This trunnion mark was used between 1722 and 1745. Gun founders were a tight-knit community, often inter-related, and were in the habit of sub-contracting work to a neighbouring foundry if they were over-committed with orders. This may well have happened with these two cannon.
The question that we all want to know, of course, how did these two pairs of Royal Navy cannon find themselves guarding a Burmese potentate's palace in Mandalay ? Well, that will be another story .......... work in progress!
''Gold is for the mistress, silver for the maid, and copper for the craftsman, cunning at his trade. "Good" said the Baron, sitting in his hall, "but iron, cold iron, is master of them all."''<br />
from 'Cold Iron' by Rudyard Kipling
'''The Pair of Guns found at the Palace Exits.'''<br />
These are the oldest Royal Navy guns seen. They are marked with the Rose @ Crown insignia which was used by the Board of Ordnance from 1690 to 1725. The design of the crest varied slightly as the years progressed. The guns are marked respectively 8009 and 8012 and the marks on the buttons are L7 and S11. These last refer, I believe, to the guns' position on board ship, Larboard No.7 and Starboard No.11. The word Larboard was subsequently changed to Port to avoid confusion. The serial numbers are recorded in Col. Browne's Survey and refer to a date of 1695. From this Survey it can be established that they are nine and a half ft. 32 pounder demi-cannon, cast by Thomas Weston, Ironmaster of the Ashburnham forge near Battle, East Sussex, for HMS NEWARK. She was a Third Rate ship of the line mounting 76-80 guns of various weights. Each of these 32 pdrs would be serviced by 14 men and a 'powder monkey', (a small boy who could easily run up and down ladders carrying bags of gunpowder from deep in the ship's hold). HMS NEWARK was refitted in 1717 and in 1745. At each refit, and possible alteration to the ship's hull, it was usual to remove and assess which guns would still be needed. Those surplus to requirements, but still in good condition, would be transferred to the ordnance stores and placed on another ship as needed. Well founded cannon, if used with the correct amount of powder, single-shotted and not fired at extreme elevation, could be expected to last 1000 firings and a few were recorded as lasting for 3000 before becoming worn out and useless.
== Background to the Casting of Iron Guns in the Weald of Sussex ==
'''See you the dimpled track that runs all hollow through the wheat ? Oh, that was where they hauled the guns that smote King Phillip's fleet.'''<br />
from 'PUCK'S SONG' by Rudyard Kipling<br />
As the population of England doubled between 1520 and 1620 more tradespeople connected with the iron industry moved into Waldron. For 150 years the Sussex Weald, known to the Romans as the Forest of Anderida, was possibly the foremost industrial area in the country. Blast furnace techniques using water-powered bellows to heat the iron ore had been imported from France and the high temperatures obtained allowed molten ore to be poured into moulds. From 1540 the first English cannon were cast in wealden furnaces. This freed the Royal Navy from dependence on foreign guns. Most of the ordnance produced had to be dragged on rough and muddy tracks on sleds or special carts drawn by teams of oxen to small coastal ports from whence they would be transported by sea to the naval dockyards at Portsmouth or Chatham. It could take over a year to cast and deliver guns, allowing for several months for a newly fired furnace to reach 'full blast'.<br />
Waldron furnace, constructed at Furnace Farm, was in operation by 1560 and remained in business for some 200 years, producing first cannonballs and iron bars ready for the forge, known as pig-iron,but by the 18th century, cannon. The water wheel powering the furnace bellows was driven by a pond fed by the millstream, and the large pond, or dam, can still be seen.<br />
Most landowners, particularly the Fullers, had interests in iron founding and they managed their woodland as coppice to produce the enormous amounts 0f charcoal needed for the blast furnaces. It has been estimated that between 4 and 5 thousand acres of coppice was needed to keep each forge and furnace combination in continuous use.<br />
The Fuller's forge at Old Heathfield was built in 1693 and lasted about a hundred years. The site is very large and has a huge man-made 'proving' bank at the base of which many cannonballs have been found. It also had a small quarry for test firing cannon and two boring mills on the stream. As at Waldron, these streams still run red with iron oxide from the massive deposits of congealed borings left in the stream beds. <br />
The Fullers also employed a Master Wheelwright among other highly skilled crafsmen, and interestingly there is still a fully-functioning wheelwright's shop on the site today, operated by Douglas Andrews, who has himself constructed a new gun-carriage for an Islamic trophy gun ordered by a Colonel in the Engineers.<br />
The Fuller's forge and foundry was constructed on a particularly difficult site. If it rained too much the site would flood and if it was too dry there was a lack of fast-flowing water in the stream to generate power. In a reply dated 17th October 1754 to the Prince of Severino, who was pressing for a firm delivery date for some guns he had ordered, John Fuller wrote , 'my furnace is a fickle mistress and must be humoured, her favours are not to be depended upon'.
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[[Category:Ordnance]]
