Thursday 12 April 2012

News - Cannon ball kid digs up Civil War relic (Balderton)

A youngster has had his enthusiasm for history fired up after unearthing a cannon ball in his back garden.


Charlie West, 8, of Kennedy Walk, Balderton, was digging a vegetable patch for his mum at the weekend when he made the discovery, which is believed to date back to the English Civil War.

“I don’t know exactly how old it is, but I know it’s very old,” he said. “I would like to do some research and find out where it came from.”

Charlie’s mother, Mrs Lorraine West, said they hoped to visit Newark and Sherwood District Council’s resource centre on Brunel Drive to try to verify the date of the cannon ball.

“His spade just hit metal. It is amazing it happened to be in the dirt and not under the garage or the path,” she said.

Charlie, a pupil at Chuter Ede Primary School, Balderton, plans to take the cannon ball to show his class on Monday.

During the English Civil War Newark was under siege three times. In the final siege in 1645 Colonel Rossiter, a Parliamentary commander, was camped at Balderton.

Mr Glynn Hopkins, of Carlton-on-Trent, a member of the English Civil War Society, said it was likely the cannon ball wasn’t fired but was left behind by the Parliamentarians.

From: http://www.newarkadvertiser.co.uk/articles/news/Cannon-ball-kid-digs-up-Civil-War-relic

No comments:

Post a Comment