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Image: Queen Elizabeth’s Pocket Pistol

Competition: Design your own Tudor cannon for your chance to win a £100 goody bag!

Learn about Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol at Dover Castle, and then have a go at designing your own Tudor cannon. The creator of our favourite entry will win a goody bag of treats from our online shop worth £100!

This competition is now closed. 

Image: Coat of arms on a Tudor cannon

A royal gift

Dover Castle in Kent is home to a magnificent Tudor cannon known as Queen Elizabeth’s Pocket Pistol. It’s a bit of a cheeky name, as this cannon is anything but pocket-sized and actually belonged to Queen Elizabeth I father, Henry VIII.

Measuring 7.3m long, the bronze weapon was a gift to King Henry VIII, from Maximilian of Egmont. Maximilian was a count from the Netherlands who fought with Henry in a war against the French in 1544–45.

The cannon was cast in bronze (a mixture of copper and tin) using a clay mould. The molten bronze was poured into the mould, which was broken open once the metal had set.

Image: Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol at Dover Castle

Surprising details

The cannon is decorated with detailed designs, including a female goddess of victory, fruit, eagles, vases and bands of flowers. The designer had a good sense of humour, too, as he included a little poem on the side – ‘As the breaker of ramparts and walls am I known, Over mountain and valley fly balls by me thrown.’

Although it was decorated very daintily, this cannon was capable of some heavy-duty destruction. It could fire cannon balls weighing 4.5kg across a distance of more than 1km.

During the English Civil War, the cannon was taken from Dover Castle and saw action at the sieges of Hull and Sheffield. It was eventually returned to the castle and can be seen there today. There’s also a replica of the cannon at the Museum of the Dutch Royal Family in the Netherlands.

Image: Template for designing a cannon

Design your cannon

Now it's your turn to design your own unique Tudor cannon, using our template (please ask an adult to download this and print it out for you).

Decorate or customise the cannon in any way you would like, using pens, paint, collage or anything that helps bring it to life.

You could even write a cheeky rhyme to put on the side, like on the original Pocket Pistol, and give your cannon a clever name too. 

Download your template
Image: Girl doing a drawing

How to enter

Once you’ve designed your cannon, you can enter it into our competition to be in with a chance of winning a goody bag of prizes worth £100 from our online shop. Ask an adult to scan or take a clear photograph of it and send it to us at membersmagazine@immediate.co.uk, along with your full name and age, and your parent’s membership number, name and address.

Please make sure you have your parent or guardian’s permission to enter, and check the terms and conditions below. Entries must be in by midnight on Monday 9 August 2021. Good luck!

Enter now!

Terms and Conditions

  • Terms and Conditions
    • The Promoter is: The English Heritage Trust, incorporated and registered in England and Wales with company number 7447221 and charity number 1140351 whose registered office is at The Engine House, Fire Fly Avenue, SN2 2EH (‘English Heritage’).
    • These terms and conditions apply to the ‘Design a Cannon Competition’ (‘the Competition’), running from Monday 5 July 2021 (the ‘Opening Date’) until midnight Monday 9 August 2021 (the ‘Closing Date’).
    • All Competition entries received after the Closing Date shall be automatically disqualified.
    • No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.
    • The Competition is open to English Heritage Young Members resident in the United Kingdom. Entrants under the age of 13 will need permission from a parent or guardian (aged 18 or over).
    • Employees or contractors of English Heritage, any person directly or indirectly involved in English Heritage or the running of the Competition, or their direct family members are not eligible for the prize.
    • There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this Competition.
    • By entering this Competition, each entrant is agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions.
    • Entries must be sent as a scanned or photographed file with clear details of the entrant’s name and age, and a parent or guardians name, email, address and membership number. Entries submitted in any other way will not be accepted.
    • The winning entrant will be contacted via email to the email address provided.
    • Obscene or inappropriate entries will not be accepted and English Heritage reserves the right to reject any entries for any reason at its sole discretion.
    • Entries must not infringe the copyright of anyone else and entrants will hold English Heritage harmless from any claims in relation to their entry alleging that the entry infringes the personal or proprietary right of any other person.
    • Only one entry will be accepted per person.  Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified.
    • English Heritage reserves the right to cancel or amend the Competition at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of its control.  Any changes to the Competition will be notified to entrants by English Heritage.
    • The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
    • The winner will be contacted by Friday 13 August 2021. If a Competition winner cannot be contacted or does not claim their prize within 14 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the Competition winner and pick a replacement Competition winner.
    • The Competition winner’s name may be published on English Heritage’s website and social media channels in a shortened form.
    • English Heritage reserves the right to substitute any prize for one of equal or greater value.
    • The Competition prize is as stated and no cash or other alternatives will be offered. The Competition prize is not transferable.
    • The Competition and these terms and conditions will be governed by English law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.
    • This Competition is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or any other social network. You are providing your information to English Heritage and not to any other party.
    • The information provided will be used in conjunction with the following Privacy Policy found at: www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/our-people/our-policies/privacy-policy/. The personal data you provide will only be used for the purposes of the Competition and will be destroyed once the Competition has ended.
    • English Heritage shall have the right, at its sole discretion and at any time, to change or modify these terms and conditions, such change shall be effective immediately upon posting to this webpage.

     

    The Competition Prize:

    • One entrant will receive a goody bag of items to the value of £100, selected from the English Heritage online shop.
    • The Competition winner will be chosen by a panel of judges appointed by English Heritage.
    • No cash alternative to the prize will be offered.