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Articles
Pieces of the Weald in Oman
Ruth Rhynas Brown
The visitor to the Sultanate of Oman
will notice many recently
remounted cannon displayed at
castles, forts and museums in the
country. Although these include old
and beautiful bronze guns, there are
also a number of cast-iron pieces
dating from the 17th and 18th
centuries which began life in the
cannon furnaces of the Weald in the
south of England. The iron guns have
been exposed to extremes of weather
– cyclones, monsoons and sandstorms
– as well as the usual weathering from
sea air or sea immersion. A number,
as you will find in any society where
seafaring is a way of life, have been reused
as bollards, such as a 17th
century gun now rescued and
displayed at Nizwa. But how did these
cannons end up so far from home, on
the edge of the Indian Ocean
By the 1650s, the gunfounding
industry of the Weald in the south of
England was recovering from near
extinction. In the 1590s, half a dozen
ironworks had produced cannons for
export but, by mid-century it had been
reduced to just one or two furnaces
under the control of the Browne family
in Kent. However a number of
circumstances occurred which led to
its re-vitalisation and the re-opening
of old Sussex furnaces and the
building of new works: Parliament
embarked on a programme of building
many new ships for its navy, which
needed 100s of guns to arm them; the
two old bronze gun foundries in
London had closed by the late 1650s;
and the government were suspicions
of the Browne family’s loyalty, since
they had been implicated in Royalist
correspondence in the Civil War.
However, the gunfounders knew
that the demand of the English
government for cannon would not be
enough to keep the re-opened
furnaces going, and that they needed
more customers. In the preceding
decades Swedish ironmasters had
taken much of the trade in cast guns,
particularly the Dutch markets, which
had before been supplied from the
Weald. English gunfounders and
merchants had to look much further
afield.
Cromwell was not the only leader
in the world, investing in a growing
navy to maintain his country’s
independence. Far away, the Oman’s
Ruler was looking for allies in his
attempts to removed European
aggressors. Since the early 16th
century Portugal had controlled
Muscat, an important port on the
Arabian coast which became a crucial
link in their control of the East Indies
spice trade. Throughout the 16th
century there had been attempts by
the Omanis to retake Muscat, but
these had not had any long-term
success. However Oman’s Ruler, a
member of the Ya’ruba family, took up
the task of driving out the Portuguese
and, in 1646, signed a treaty with the
English East India Company
guaranteeing trading, religious and
The iron guns have been
exposed to extremes of
weather – cyclones,
monsoons and
sandstorms – as well as
the usual weathering
from sea air or sea
immersion. A number,
as you will find in any
society where seafaring
is a way of life, have
been re-used as
bollards, such as a 17th
century gun now
rescued and displayed at
Nizwa Fort. But how did
these cannons end up so
far from home, on the
edge of the Indian
Ocean
ISSUE 06 MAGAZINE 49