Berkeley County Museum Cannon

The Berkeley County Museum reached out to the WLCC when the surface of their small Revolutionary War era cannon started delaminating. Improperly desalination after its excavation from the Cooper River at the Lewisfield Plantation, the chloride ions present were reacting with the cast iron cannon, forming voluminous corrosion products below the surface of the cannon, resulting in cracking and losses to the surface. WLCC conservators carefully removed the paint coating from the cannon, consolidated the surface, reattached the broken fragments, in effect, reconstructing the exterior surface. Because the cannon was too fragile to undergo desalination at this point, a heavy-duty coating system was applied to isolate the cannon from any fluctuations in humidity which would worsen the corrosion. The Lewisfield Plantation cannon is now back on display at the Berkeley County Museum.