Historic: The gun at St. Victoria.
Historic: The gun at St. Victoria.
The former British Army battery at Fort Victoria, St. George's is to be moved to a new site at the Royal Naval Dockyard as part of the Park Hyatt pre-construction.

It will take several weeks to dismantle, relocate and reassemble the historic gun which weighs in at around 128 tons.

A team led by consultant and executive director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum Dr. Edward Harris will carry out the mammoth task being funded by Park Hyatt developer Carl Bazarian's company Addax Holdings Ltd.

The gun will be placed close to the entrance of Dockyard on the lower level of the Land Front southwest of Casemate Barracks.

Expertise

The project will draw on local and international expertise to ensure that the historic weaponry is properly reinstated.

Mr. Harris said the gun "stuck out like a sore thumb" after the Club Med hotel was demolished in September and so a consortium including the Department of Parks, the Ministry of Works and Engineering, the West End Development Corporation was formed to relocate it. He said: "The gun's surrounds were destroyed in the 1960s so when they demolished the hotel it was out of context.

"The gun will be mounted up and the barrel will go across the road up about 40 foot so when you drive down the road to the Dockyard you will see this wonderful piece of artillery and when you come in by the ferry you will see it at the end of the fortifications by Casemate's Barracks. It should be quite spectacular - it is one of the most picturesque locations."

Historically, the 9.2 inch breech loader was the heaviest British gun ever used in Bermuda. It was brought into service in the late 1800s and was in use right through to the end of coastal defence in 1957.

The 9.2-inch Breech Loader served in two locations in Bermuda, Fort Victoria (1899) and St. David's Battery (1910).