THE ‘Round Oak relic Down Under’ article in Bugle 911 has drawn this response from former Round Oak Steel Works employee Colin Woodward of Cradley Heath.
Colin told us: “I was employed at the plant from 1957 to 1962 in the heavy rolling mills and adjoining laboratory, and I’m also interested in military history, so I had a lot in common with the Bugle story in 911 which raises some interesting questions. The gun in the picture appears to conform to the designs of Sir William Armstrong of Newcastle as I remember seeing something similar in their old catalogues, but I don’t think anything of its kind was ever made at Round Oak. It is almost certainly a rifled shell firing gun, but it is difficult to see from the illustration whether it was a muzzle or a breach loader. Armstrong made both conforming to this pattern between 1850 & 1870, the earlier made from cast iron, the latter from wrought iron. Similar guns can be seen on the Warrior at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
“The gun carriage is another matter entirely and is called a Garrison Slide used on land rather than at sea. The bed slopes, so that the breach end is higher than the muzzle and is meant to absorb recoil energy as the gun slides up to it. The flanged wheels confirm this.
Carriages like these were in use up to about 1900, and because of its primitive design I suspect that this example was scratch built either in the UK or New Zealand. The bed appears to have been fabricated from rolled joist at Round Oak.
“The rolls during my time at the plant, from which sections were made, were inscribed “Round Oak Steel Works” or “EDRO” (Earl of Dudley’s Round Oak Works). Whereas prior to 1900 they would have been stamped “Round Oak Ironworks” which would have been transferred to the joist.
This particular marking continued well after 1900 as the rolls had a considerable life span.
“I would tend to agree that it is difficult to date the manufacture of the gun and its carriage, but the gun probably dates from the 1850s and the carriage from between 1850 and 1900, presumably fabricated from Round Oak R.S.J. stock by an unknown manufacturer.”
