Photo: one of the 'cheeks' (side pieces) gives some idea of what size the carriages were. Courtesy Explosion! The Museum of Naval Firepower.

A unique collection of timber gun carriage parts dating back to the days of Nelson and the wars against Napoleon has been unearthed by archaeologists at Woolwich Arsenal in London.

Including trucks, axle trees and brackets, the timbers would have been used to make carriages for field and naval cannons to be deployed in battle during the 18th and 19th centuries.

The cache of more than 40 parts has now been delivered to Explosion! The Museum of Naval Firepower in Gosport where they will be conserved by experts and eventually put on display.

Photo: among the finds were hand spikes used by the teams of men who would have fired the cannons. Courtesy Explosion! The Museum of Naval Firepower.

Chris Henry, Head of Collections at the museum, described the find as "a time capsule" and explained that since most gun carriages on display at historic sites are reproductions, it offers a rare opportunity to see what they really looked like.

"It is a library of parts that we probably wouldn’t have had before," he said. "Most now are reproductions copied from drawings, so that’s what makes this really, really interesting."

The Royal Arsenal began life when Henry VIII created a dockyard at Woolwich in around 1512. Right up until the 1960s, the site was where the vast majority of arms and armaments for the British military were manufactured.

Discovered underneath what was once one of the Royal Laboratory Buildings, where gun cartridges were made in the early 19th century, the parts were preserved in the damp earth around its foundations.

Photo: one of the axle trees. Courtesy Explosion! The Museum of Naval Firepower.

How they got there, Chris explained, is something of a mystery: "It is a bit of a conundrum, because we don’t really know quite why they’ve done that," he said, adding that they may have "just been chucked away."

It’s not known whether any of them were used in battle, but their markings and shapes suggest they are variously of standard land, naval and siege service types.

Some would have held the kind of guns that fired from the sides of 18th century warships and they date from the time of the American war of Independence (1775–83) right up to the Crimean war (1854-56).

Photo: a remarkably well-preserved 'truck' or wheel. Courtesy Explosion! The Museum of Naval Firepower.

"I think gun carriages are often viewed as a consumable item," said Chris. "My feeling is they weren’t used but were made for stock ready to go out wherever they were needed."

The parts will now be carefully conserved by staff at Explosion and an expert from the Mary Rose Museum is due at Priddy’s Hard this week to advise on the best way to do it.

Despite the fact that it could take up to a year to conserve them, plans are already in place to put some of the timbers on general display.

To have well-preserved original wooden gun carriage parts is such a rare thing that the majority of them will be used as educational tools for study by artillery experts.