Cannon on Frederiksværk town square

September 6, 2023September 8, 2023 by Frank

Frederiksværk

The small town of Fredericksværk in northern Sjælland, Denmark, was home to a substantial cannon foundry during the age of front-loading cannon. Between 1756 and 1833, an estimated 2.500 cannon were cast for the Danish military, but also for export.

South portal of the Frederiksværk Arsenal — This small building close to the town center goes bz the name of Arsenal. It houses a small museum and is surrounded by the two mortars pictured here and two bronze cannon on the north side.

J. F Classen bust on a stand resembling a cannon — Johan Frederik Classen was the protagonist in the establishment of the cannon foundry.

Small Iron Mortar — A small iron mortar, calibre ca. 10lbs, on a massive iron bed.

Top view of the mortar. The touch hole is unusually small.

Small Iron Mortar — These mortars were probably produced and used for testing rather than battle. Frederiksværk was also home to a gunpowder factory, which still exists as a museum.

Bronze Cannon — This is one of three very similar bronze cannon on public display in the town center. They were cast during the reign of Christian VII (1766-1784).

Cannon muzzle — The cannon features a threaded bore, highly unusual for bronze cannon. Also note the flat top with a threaded hole; Apparently for attachment of a sight.

Cannon cascabel — On the rear reinforcement ring sits the foundry’s signature.

Detail of cannon rear — The cannon has an unusual horizontal scale engraved in the rear. Probably these were experimental pieces that were used to establish the precision ad capabilities of this model.

Detail of cannon muzzle — Detail view of the cannon muzzle.

Cannon on Frederiksværk town square — This cannon is almost identical to the previous one, but does not have a scale engraved into its rear notch.Instead it features several threaded holes all over its rear part.

Rear view of the bronze cannon on town square — Also here, the fairly unusual notch is present. But there is no scale engraved. Possibly this piece was used for other experiments than the other two.

Portrait of Christian VII on the cannon back — Two of the three cannon have a portrait of Christian VII on them. The third has a stylized C and 7 – probably a variation in case the king did not like his portrait.

Lifting ring shaped like an elephant's head — All three cannon feature these lifting rings in the shape of an elephant’s head.

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