Blast from the past - unique gun carriage of 17th century ship dredged from deep off Southend Pier

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

Gun carriage of ship which brought Charles II home is raised as experts act fast

A unique wooden gun carriage, estimated to weigh a ton, has been brought ashore from its resting place off Southend Pier, Essex.

Once belonging to The London, one of the warships which brought Charles II home from exile, the carriage was discovered last summer by divers after the sticky clay which had buried it for so long became disturbed.

“This 350-year-old gun carriage is in near-perfect condition," says Historic England Maritime Archaeologist Alison James.

"It’s a national treasure and the key to new knowledge of our social and naval history."

After becoming exposed, there was a real urgency to rescue the carriage as nature and the elements threatened to destroy the only surviving naval gun carriage from the period.

“Until now it’s been well preserved, enclosed in an anaerobic environment, oxygen-free mud, safe from all the creepy-crawlies that would normally erode it,” says James.

"We’ve even got the 350-year-old rope going through the pulley block. But as parts of the gun carriage recently became exposed, we had to act fast to save this rare piece of our history from the ravages of the waves and biological attack."

The raising of the carriage on August 11 marks a pivotal point in a wider campaign to discover and retrieve The London's artefacts, which are threaten by changing currents and an increase in sea worms brought about by climate change.

“The successful lifting and conservation of this gun carriage will give us a great insight into the English navy during an unsettled time when Britain was emerging as a global power,” says John Dillon, Project Manager at Cotswold Archaeology.

“While the hull of the ship will remain on the seabed for the foreseeable future, the recovery and display of vulnerable artefacts such as this will aid our understanding of life on board a warship 350 years ago.”

More than 150 exciting finds have been lifted so far, including a stoneware jug, leather shoes, a hand-made glass cabin window and a cannon. They are predominantly being conserved at the Hampshire offices of Historic England, which is leading the recovery operation alonside Cotswold Archaeology and a team of divers guided by Steve Ellis.

The London

• The ship was built at Chatham Historic Dockyard between 1654 and 1656
  
  
• She was one of only three Second Rate warships commissioned by Parliament during the Civil War and Commonwealth period and the only one to survive
  
  
• The London was part of a squadron which brought Charles II back from the Netherlands in 1660, allowing his restoration to the English throne
  
  
• She was on her way to collect final supplies to take part in the Second Anglo Dutch War of 1665-7 when her gunpowder supplies ignited and she exploded
  
  
• At the time of her sinking, The London was one of only four English warships to have a full complement of 76 bronze cannons

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Three places to discovery navy history in

Captain Cook Birthplace Museum, Middlesbrough
Sail into uncharted waters to see Cook and his crew encounter new peoples, lands, plants and animals through a combination of original artefacts, films, computer interactives, and hands-on displays.

Hampshire Naval Collection, Gosport
A substantial amount of material reflects the strong links between Hampshire, particularly Gosport, and the navy. Past and present connections to the town are represented by sections on submarines, naval medicine, ordnance and naval aviation.

Historic Dockyard Chatham
Make rope on the Victorian Ropery Tour, be gripped by stories of life aboard three historic warships and hear of heroic stories in the RNLI Historic Lifeboat Collection.

Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/transport-and-industry/art534122