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Historic Guns of British India

230 bytes added, 17:24, 20 December 2011
Add images 0053 & 7
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File:0054-mandalay-palace-entrance-1-detail 1.jpeg|Palace entrance gun 1 detail 1
File:0055-mandalay-palace-entrance-1-detail 2.jpg|Palace entrance gun 1 detail 2
File:0056-mandalay-palace-entrance-1-detail 3 (2).jpg|Palace entrance gun 1 detail 3
</gallery>
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.  <gallery caption= widths="350px" heights="250px" perrow="3">File:0058-mandalay-Fuller-initials.jpeg|Palace entrance gun 2 detail 1</gallery> 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!

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