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Donate to Detonate
Is Back

From November 15 through December 31, 2023, donate any amount, starting at $20, or buy a detonation outright at $1,000. Every fifteenth donation under $1,000 will entitle the donor to fire a cannon at the Museum’s community day, scheduled for February 25, 2024. Donors who buy a $1,000 detonation outright have an option to pick a private day to fire their cannon, or to join the community day in February. 

All donations support NMB’s annual fund, The Anchor Fund, which sustains and enriches the Museum’s education programmes; exhibits; publications; community outreach; day-to-day operations; and the care of its 16-acre property and collection of 80,000 objects related to 500 years of Bermuda history. 

“Literally the best Christmas gift I have ever bought!”

This could be you! Donate to Detonate today.

 

Save the Date

Join us to detonate on Saturday, February 25, 2024 during our free Community Day at NMB – let’s have a blast! 

Cannon Shots provided by

Cannon charges are provided by Swan Pyrotechnics, who NMB works closely with to ensure each cannon fire is safe and controlled.

No cannonballs are used.

About the Gun

The cannon being fired is an English 32-pounder cast-iron smooth-barreled muzzle-loading cannon manufactured by Walker & Company of Yorkshire circa 1810. It is made to the Blomefield-pattern—distinguished by the loop on the breech for the ropes, which controlled recoil. The pattern was used on land and at sea. It was the standard for Royal Navy use after 1794 and proved its worth during the Napoleonic wars between Britain and France. The gun was made in a number of sizes, designated by the weight of the shot they fired: this gun would have fired a 32-pound cannonball.

The early history of this gun’s service is not known. At some point, it was offloaded in Bermuda, and it was eventually incorporated into Fort Langton in the 1870s when it was placed vertically in the ground to be used as a pivot for a 10-inch rifled muzzle loader gun which defended the North Shore approach to the Dockyard. When Fort Langton was destroyed in 1984 to make room for the new bus depot, the cannon was recovered by the Museum, restored to working order, and placed on a replica bronze garrison standing carriage.

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