Special Sunday Gun Firings featuring at Fort Nelson

The Royal Armouries announces dates for this year’s Commemorative gun firings and special Sunday black powder gun firings at Fort Nelson in Hampshire.

On selected Sundays throughout the year there are commemorative firings and special firings at Fort Nelson, featuring authentic gun drills by uniformed detachments from Portsdown Artillery Volunteers, Ubique Right of the Line and HMS Loire.

Fort Nelson is a historic monument, rescued from dereliction and carefully restored to its Victorian splendour. It commands spectacular views over the Solent to the south and the picturesque Meon Valley to the north. The Royal Armouries museum was opened in 1984 for the first time, and today is home to one of the largest collections of artillery in the UK.

Nigel Hosier, Operations Manager said, “These Sunday gun firings offer a great opportunity for all the family to experience the sounds of our mighty guns firing throughout the day. There are few places that are able to fire using black powder, which makes these events so special”.

Guns are fired at: 11:30am, 2pm and 3pm, with the exception of the 13-inch Land Service Mortar and the 32-pounder which are fired at 11 am, 11:30 am, 2 pm, 2:30 pm, 3 pm and 3:30 pm. In addition, one of the big guns will be fired daily at 1pm. These events are free and everyone is welcome.

The detachments will be available after the firings to talk about the guns and their history.

3 and 4 June:
Commemorating the 73rd anniversary of D-Day.
Uniformed detachments from Ubique Right of the Line will conduct live black powder firings of the Second World War self-propelled Sexton on the parade at 11:30 am, 2 pm and 3 pm.

11 June:
7-inch Armstrong Rifled Breech Loading Gun.
Uniformed detachments from the Portsdown Artillery Volunteers will demonstrate the drills and fire the 110 — pounder rifled breech-loading gun from the ramparts of the Victorian Fort at 11:30 am, 2 pm and 3 pm.

18 June:
Commemorative gun firing: Waterloo
To commemorate the battle, uniformed detachments from Ubique Right of the Line and HMS Loire will conduct the firings of two Napoleonic six-pounder guns. A British six-pounder, smooth-bore cannon and a six-pounder French cannon “Le Fameux” at 11.30 am, 2 pm and 3 pm.

9 July:
64-pounder Platform Gun on the Ramparts
Uniformed detachments from Portsdown Artillery Volunteers will fire one of the two mighty Rifled Muzzle-Loading (RML) 64-pounder guns from a traversing platform on the ramparts of the 19th century fort at 11:30 am, 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm.

29 and 30 July:
Commemorative gun firing: Passchendaele
A special firing of an 18-pounder First World War gun by uniformed detachment Ubique Right of the Line at 11:30 am, 2 pm and 3 pm.

10 September:
16-pounder Victorian Field Gun
Dressed in Victorian uniforms, detachments from the Portsdown Artillery Volunteers will fire the historic 16-pounder gun at 11:30 am, 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm on the parade.

22 October:
Commemorative gun firing: Trafalgar.
British and French guns. Firings by uniformed detachments from Ubique and HMS Loire

11 November:
Commemorative Firing: Armistice Day
Fort Nelson staff will fire the 18-pounder on the parade at 11am, to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, followed by two minutes’ silence. The 25-pounder Field Howitzer will be fired at 1pm for the daily salute.

12 November:
Commemorative firings: Remembrance Sunday
A special firing of an 18-pounder First World War gun by uniformed detachment Ubique Right of the Line at 11 am, followed by a Remembrance monologue and two minutes silence will form part of the commemorations to those killed in two world wars and all conflicts since.

26 November:
32-pounder Smooth-bore Breech Loader gun
Portsdown Artillery Volunteers will live fire the powerful 32-pounder Victorian gun in the North Caponier at: 11 am,11:30 am, 2 pm, 2:30 pm, 3 pm and 3:30 pm

For more details about the Royal Armouries and the national collection housed at Fort Nelson, visit: www.royalarmouries.org

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Notes to editors

– Royal Armouries has two other sites at HM Tower of London and in Leeds.
– Fort Nelson in Hampshire houses the national collection of big guns and artillery. It underwent a major refurbishment in 2011, with new galleries and a state-of-the-art education centre. The project was supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
– In 2014, it was awarded a Certificate of Excellence by TripAdvisor.
– The Royal Armouries Museum should not be confused with Royal Armouries International plc, the private sector corporate hospitality business based on the same site in Leeds.
– For further media enquiries and photo opportunities at Fort Nelson, please contact Caroline Chapman, Communications Officer: caroline.chapman@armouries.org.uk