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Success for divers as cannon is raised

A cannon has been successfully raised by divers working on Alderney's Elizabethan wreck.

Four divers from Belgium spent 35 minutes attaching rope to the two-metre-long device in the waters off Cats Bay yesterday afternoon.

The 400-year-old canon, which will be transported to the Tower of London next week, was then lifted from the seabed and brought aboard by a hydraulic crane.

Oxford lecturer Mensun Bound directed the expedition.

He said: "This is a highly significant find. The cannon is in superb condition and has a ceramic hand grenade attached to it which is completely intact.

"We'll find out more about it once it's been X-rayed and I'm sure we're in for plenty of surprises."

Archaeologist Mr Bound thinks the wreck, which was discovered by local fisherman Bertie Cosheril in 1976, marks a significant period in military history.

He said: "I believe the artefacts discovered from this wreck mark a high point in military technology.

"The Mary Rose, which went down just 43 years before this ship, contained bows and arrows while this has a collection a high calibre guns.

"Today's find has gone some way to proving this is the first uniform military system. It's very significant."

Mr Bound is hoping the cannon and other artefacts will be displayed at a public exhibition on Alderney's quayside this coming Monday.

The cannon is the second to be discovered since archaeologists began excavating the site in the early 1990s. It will be housed in Alderney Museum alongside a similar model after it is assessed and displayed in London.

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