The Bounty Cannon Returns Home

Early on Tuesday morning the KAVHA team picked up the Bounty cannon from the Works Depot (all prepared and sitting on a crate ready to go thanks to Lee Hamilton-Irvine), and returned her safely to the Pitcairn Norfolk Gallery in the Pier Store. The KAVHA team are amazing – they managed moving this half tonne object with great skill and care. The cannon had been at the Works Depot for the last four months undergoing conservation work by Janelle Blucher to remove corrosion and be re-sealed.

The cannon has come home to sit on a new gun carriage made for us by Peter Horrocks. It is worth a visit to the Pier Store just to see Peter’s carriage - it is beautifully hand made to the exact original carriage plans and is a major addition to our displays and in particular, the display of the cannon. As large pieces of Norfolk Island Pine were needed for the construction, timber was specially sourced by John Pearson and Charles Christian-Bailey. The steel work for the cap squares was made by Greg Horrocks and KCI once again made a supporting frame for the cannon to actually sit on. Our sincere thanks to Pete, John, Charles, Greg and KCI.

Once again, the Museum has benefited from local skill and ingenuity and a major item of great significance to this community as well as internationally has been successfully handled and cared for.  We invite you to visit the Pitcairn Norfolk Gallery in the Pier Store to see our newly conserved Bounty cannon sitting on its hand-made carriage. This project was funded by the National Library of Australia through their Community Heritage Grants Program.

Up-town Museum Presence

We were recently asked by Baunti Escapes to provide a major display of our Museum tickets, products and tours in their Burnt Pine office. We have long desired the opportunity to have a substantial up-town display to ensure that visitors learn about the existence of our museums in the early stages of their holiday. One of the most common things we hear is “if only I’d found out about the museums earlier in my stay” – as visitors realise that more than the last morning or afternoon of their holiday is needed to really explore all we have on offer.

Many thanks to Baunti Escapes for providing this valuable space to us. Next time you walk past their office drop in to see the new home for our replica Bounty cannon made as part of the Bounty cannon conservation project, and displays on our museums and tours – including the chance to dress up and have your photo taken in either a Bounty or judges outfit (from the Trial of the Fifteen). Bring your camera for lots of fun!

Can you help us?

We recently received an enquiry asking for information about Carnfield (Carn or Karl) Bancroft. Carn managed the whaling station here in the early 1960s and lived in the Royal Engineers Office (now the R.E.O. Café and Bookshop) in Kingston with his wife Sybil. One of his descendants is looking for information about his time here on Norfolk. We would really appreciate your call on 23788 if you have any information we could pass on.