Only after the construction crew had gathered round the centuries-old cannonball to snap a few photos did it occur to anyone that the projectile might still be packed with live gunpowder.
The Canadian workers stumbled across the 10-inch ball as they were carrying out excavation work in Quebec City’s historic quarter.
The 90kg (200lb) ball is believed to have been fired by British forces in 1759 during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham against the French army.
The city’s archaeologist was sent to collect the 258-year-old relic earlier this month and transported it home in a trailer, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It was there that Serge Rouleau noticed the rusty hole running through the centre of the cannonball, suggesting it likely contained gunpowder – and meaning it was potentially still explosive.
Rouleau reached out to the Canadian armed forces, who dispatched bomb disposal specialists to collect the cannonball. “With time, humidity got into its interior and reduced its potential for exploding, but there’s still a danger,” Master Warrant Officer Sylvain Trudel told the CBC. “Old munitions like this are hard to predict … You never know to what point the chemicals inside have degraded.”
The projectile was designed to spark fires upon contact, he said. “The ball would break and the powder would ignite, setting fire to the building.”
The shell is believed to have been fired by British gun batteries located in Lévis, which sits opposite Quebec City on the south shore of the St Lawrence river. The battle – during the Seven Years’ War – saw the British defeat the French to take control of Quebec City, paving the way for the end of French rule in what is now Canada.
The live shell has now been moved to a safe site, where specialists are preparing to inject it with a mixture of chemicals to neutralise the explosive element. If the cannonball survives the process, the hope is to eventually put it on display at a museum.
