Cannon found in secret wall

Cannon have long been associated with the Apprentice Boys, but four which were discovered behind a secret wall in the basement have sparked a mystery which so far can no one has been able to solve.

Hidden behind an artificial hall in the basement of the Apprentice Boys’ historic Memorial Hall in Londonderry, four mysterious cannon have been found.

They are believed to have lay quietly there for almost a century and no one surviving so far has been able to shed any light on what they were used for or why they were hidden.

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One of the cannon bears an inscription relating to an Orange lodge, Glendermott LOL, and two appear quite similar, possibly indicating that they are a pair.

However, rather than shedding light, this information has sparked more questions as Glendermott do not meet in the hall, but across the city in the Waterside.

Apprentice Boys General Secretary Billy Moore said they have been in contact with Glendermott about the cannon, but unfortunately they cannot find the minute books that relate to that time.

The cannon until recently were concealed behind a sealed up wall. The basement room where they were found is full of ornamental cannon and carriages which are used in parades.

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Other ceremonial cannon pulled by the Apprentice Boys through the city during their two annual parades fill the basement, but these much older, and much dustier cannon have flummoxed members.

Mr Moore said a man who does maintenance work in the building made the discovery.

“He knew that particular wall was false and always had a curiosity about it,” he said.

“At the top of the false wall was a cavity, so he went down with a camera one day and pointed it in from the top, then we realised what was there.”

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They knocked the false wall in and then they found the four cannon.

Since then an archaeologist has inspected the cannon and said he believes they date to the late 19th century and are unlikely to date to the siege itself in the 17th century.

Mr Moore says there are a number of theories about them.

“Probably the most realistic one was that in the 1940s, during World War Two, the Government was looking for anything iron, so perhaps if people at the time thought it was going to be confiscated they sealed them up to protect them,” he said.

“That’s just one theory, it may not be accurate. Although what bothers me is that if it was that recently then you would expect some of our older members might have remembered or know something about it, yet no one does.”

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Another theory is that the cannon may relate to the formation of the original Ulster Volunteer Force in Londonderry in 1913.

“Because if they were hidden in 1940, we’d have expected some general knowledge of them, but if they had been hidden in 1913, then those individuals involved would most likely all have passed on.

“These four cannon are very heavy; it would have taken several people and been a major job to bring them downstairs to hide them in the basement.”

n The Apprentice Boys have asked that if anyone might know anything about these mysterious cannons to contact them.

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