“Random encounters with the unusual” is a repository for the oddities that me and Mrs J have encountered on our travels, which we find interesting or amusing in some way. Have a look, maybe you will find something interesting or amusing herein.

Wednesday, 25 July 2012

The Weymouth Cannon Ball

In Weymouth on Maiden Street, there is a building which today is a public convenience. When looking at this building, if you happen to glance upwards, you may notice what appears to be a cannon ball lodged in the wall of the building.

During the English Civil war in the 1640’s, there was a plot by royalist sympathisers loyal to King Charles I, known as the Crabchurch Conspiracy. The ultimate aim of the plot was to secure a port to allow the King to land a force of French soldiers to bolster his chances of winning the war. This attempt to secure a port (Weymouth) led to some extensive fighting in the town, with a force of circa 1000 Roundheads pitched against a force of circa 6000 Royalists. It is commonly believed that the cannon ball found its way into the wall during this battle.



























































Pictures, Weymouth (June 2012).
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , ,

5 comments:

  1. Andrew May25 July 2012 at 11:25

    There is also a ghost story worthy of M.R. James associated with this house - http://www.darkdorset.co.uk/the_ghost_of_the_corner_house

    ReplyDelete
  2. Paul25 July 2012 at 12:16

    Andrew, thanks for pointing that out, I had not seen that before.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nick Redfern29 July 2012 at 08:10

    Hey Paul:

    http://nickredfernfortean.blogspot.com/2012/07/random-encounters-with-unusual.html

    Cheers!
    Nick Redfern

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown26 April 2014 at 05:42

    Thanks for this, we saw this for real recently!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Paul26 April 2014 at 09:57

    My pleasure. I lived in Weymouth for years before I spotted this oddity!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)