You often end up coming across all sorts of strange and unusual things while pottering about in your garden but rarely do you find something which looks as though it could be deadly.
One mum was in for a shock after digging through the soil in her new garden, only to come across a mysterious spherical item some believe could be a weapon.
The object in question looks very like a "small cannonball" and is said to be "made of iron and is very heavy for its size." Judging by a photo of it, the item looks to be a little bit smaller than a lime.
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Taking to Mumsnet, the woman's daughter - who goes by the username TreacheryPepper - explained the garden of the rented property had been a "bit of a state" when her mum first moved in.
Sharing a photo of the unusual object in question, she wrote: "She's been gradually digging areas in preparation for seeding a lawn. She's removed loads of crap from the soil, but yesterday came across this.
"It appears to be made of iron and is very heavy for its size. It's like a small cannonball. Has anyone come across anything similar?"
Fellow Mumsnet users have been left completely mystified by the find, with a number enquiring whether or not they live in the vicinity of any historical battle sites.
One person wrote: "Hello! Nerdy metal detectorist here! Love a bit of dirty ol' metal. Looks like a cast iron canister shot to me. Mid-late 1800's, maybe. Like a mini cannonball. They're also called 'solid shots' or 'grape shots'. Nice find!
"I'd love to wave a metal detector over the rest of your garden. Who knows what treasure you might be standing on? Hope you find more!"
Another said: "I found similar at the foot of the South Downs. I thought it was a meteorite. I showed it to some geologists that I worked with.
"Turns out it was something called iron pyrite. Not from space but the earth's crust instead and about a gazillion years old. I still have it, it’s really heavy."
The original poster was pleasantly surprised to see so much interest and went on to confirm: "We're in the East Midlands, and the town did see some Civil War action, but I reckon the area my mum lives in would have been farmland back then. The house is 1930's.
"It's definitely too big for a musket ball. My husband, an ex-engineer reckons it's too big to be a ball bearing, but he has been known to talk s**** so I won't rule it out.
"We pondered the possibility of it being a meteorite but concluded the shape is too uniform. Whatever it is badly rusted so could've been a bit bigger originally. There are old army barracks nearby but they didn't open until the 1870s, so it's probably unrelated."
She proceeded to reveal the ball was indeed magnetic, and so "made of lead", adding that it weighed 229g when she popped it on the scales.
Small arms specialist historian Matthew Moss told the Mirror that, although it was difficult to tell without handling the item for itself, he does have a few theories of his own.
Moss said: "If it is a projectile I'd say it does look like a small cannonball, larger than a contemporary musket ball which would have been cast from lead rather than iron.
"I'd agree with some of the commenters who suggest the Civil War but the level of corrosion looks about right, although of course, some areas' soils are more acidic than others.
"From the size, I would say it was fired by a light field piece - a smaller, more mobile cannon. During the 17th century, cannons had lots of interesting names to describe their size, weight, and type of manufacture. This shot looks like it may have been used with a 'Falconet' or 'Minion'.
"The other possibility is it is a piece of grapeshot, smaller balls put into a larger cannon and fired almost like a shotgun, with the shot spreading out as it travels to hit more targets."
Have you come across a mystery object in your home or garden? We pay for stories. Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
