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"Big Ben" & Cannon Shed
6 Singletary Avenue
Cannon Caretaker: Carl Hutchinson
This post and beam structure was built by the Sutton Historical Society in 2004 to store the authentic 1862 Civil War cannon identified as "Big Ben" as well as a circa 1800s antique horse drawn "closed style" carriage.
"Big Ben" was fondly named after local citizen, Ben MacLaren, who unearthed the cannon from the Hearse Shed many years ago.
"Big Ben" is a fully-working 900-pound brass cannon cast in 1862 in Boston at the Cyrus Alger & Co. foundry. The cannon is a smoothbore, model M1841 cannon known as a "6-pounder" for the size of its cannonballs which had a shooting range of up to 1520 yards (almost 0.9 mile).
The treasured cannon and its carriage, tools and equipment are co-owned by the Town of Sutton and The Sutton Historical Society, Inc. The Historical Society is responsible for its custody and care.
In 1999, the cannon was refurbished, and an exact duplicate carriage was built.
Our Cannon Club, a group of dedicated Civil War re-enactors, display and fire the cannon during special town events.
In 2013, the cannon and its team proudly participated in the 150-year anniversary re-enactment of the Battle of Gettysburg.
"Big Ben" was one of four cannons received from the U.S. Government by Sutton after the Civil War to be used as monuments to commemorate and honor the local soldiers who fought and died in the Civil War.
Three of the cannons are fixed monuments; two are located at the entrance of the Town Hall with the third located on Mateychuk Square in the Village of Manchaug.
"Big Ben" was fondly named after local citizen, Ben MacLaren, who unearthed the cannon from the Hearse Shed many years ago.
"Big Ben" is a fully-working 900-pound brass cannon cast in 1862 in Boston at the Cyrus Alger & Co. foundry. The cannon is a smoothbore, model M1841 cannon known as a "6-pounder" for the size of its cannonballs which had a shooting range of up to 1520 yards (almost 0.9 mile).
The treasured cannon and its carriage, tools and equipment are co-owned by the Town of Sutton and The Sutton Historical Society, Inc. The Historical Society is responsible for its custody and care.
In 1999, the cannon was refurbished, and an exact duplicate carriage was built.
Our Cannon Club, a group of dedicated Civil War re-enactors, display and fire the cannon during special town events.
In 2013, the cannon and its team proudly participated in the 150-year anniversary re-enactment of the Battle of Gettysburg.
"Big Ben" was one of four cannons received from the U.S. Government by Sutton after the Civil War to be used as monuments to commemorate and honor the local soldiers who fought and died in the Civil War.
Three of the cannons are fixed monuments; two are located at the entrance of the Town Hall with the third located on Mateychuk Square in the Village of Manchaug.
