Foundry
This is an atmospheric rather than exact recreation of two areas of the Royal Bronze Foundry at Woolwich during the late 18th century.
On one side, a bronze gun still in its mould is being hoisted from the casting pit in front of the furnace, where the copper and tin alloy was melted ready to pour by gravity into the mould.
Across the room a machine shop is seen, with an original unfinished bronze barrel in the boring machine. This was used to drill out the bore of the gun from a solid casting. An audio-visual presentation explains the processes.
Cast bronze proved a good, if costly material, for gun barrels; it remained in favour for field guns until the middle of the 19th century and later in some cases. It was considered smarter than cast iron for warship armament, but cost prevented its use on many ships.
Cast iron was a cheaper, reliable alternative, using a similar technique but not shown here.
