Royal Arsenal...
Welcome to the Royal Arsenal Woolwich which is now home to many people and the 'Royal Artillery Museum'.
Just inside the entrance at Warren Lane Gate I came across these wonderful looking cannons sitting upon a wheeled frame. The history of the Royal Arsenal dates back to the 16th century with the first ordnance stores set up under a directive by Henry VIII. In 1805 George III visited the Warren and gave it the title of the Royal Arsenal. In 1967 the Royal Ordnance Factory closed with the loss of thousands of jobs. Today the site has been redeveloped and is now a beautiful place to live beside the river Thames.
If you take a close look at the picture (below) you'll notice the similarity to the cannon bollards found in 'Cannon Lane, Hampstead NW3' take a look at the muzzle and notice how it flares outwards. If we then look at the picture third from bottom we see the end of the cannon and again we can compare this to a bollard found in the City of London 'Bollard Hunting (part two)' by St Helen's Bishopsgate.
The history of these objects we find upon our pavements is rather rich indeed and who would have thought that some objects of war would have been recycled then planted on our streets/roads.
Another angle...
Seen this before..?
Looking at the muzzle...
Self propelled gun...
Brighton bollards...
The #guestbollard (above) happens to be a rather beautiful picture of some red ornate bollards in front of the Brighton Fishermans Museum. Can I thank @chrissypeekaboo on the twitter for the photograph (above) and those featured on 'Bollards of Britain' #thankyou.
Bollards of London...
PS you may be wondering what is a picture of a self propelled gun doing on this post ? Well just like the bollards have altered design/shape and style so have the cannons.
