A New Look at Old Cannon: Interim Report on the Gun Rocks Site

A scatter of cannon lying at the base of Gun Rocks since at least 1769 was first investigated by the Tyneside British Sub-Aqua Club 114 in 1970. These recreational divers set the standard for that time, logically surveying and researching and writing a report on their findings. They also commissioned the local television station to record their investigations at Gun Rocks near the Farne Islands, England. Historic England (formerly English Heritage) commissioned Wessex Archaeology in 2013 to conduct a site survey, and invited the Tyneside Club to participate. The exposure of the club divers to both current archaeological practice and equipment reinvigorated the club’s interest in the site. Of particular interest was the trial use of photogrammetry to model several of the cannon. In 2016, a new initiative to examine the Gun Rocks site was undertaken by a collaborative team comprising the Tyneside Club, volunteer archaeologists, Flinders University and Wessex Archaeology. Newly discovered underwater cannon were captured in detail using photogrammetry, which, when combined with legacy data, provided a fresh interpretation of the site and contributed to Tyneside’s long-term goal of comprehensively identifying the wreck and sharing their knowledge with other divers via a dive trail.