Leaving the castle for the first time in 30 years

Mons Meg, the world’s most famous medieval gun, has now left the castle to have an MOT. The six tonne cannon was transported from Edinburgh Castle early yesterday morning (Monday 19th January) for specialist restoration and conservation work. Over the next few weeks, Historic Scotland’s expert conservation team will be carefully examining the gun.

Richard Welander, Head of Collections for Historic Scotland explained the need for the transportation: “Mons Meg undergoes regular ‘health checks’ each year and is lifted off its carriage every five years for a closer inspection. This time it’s getting a major service, which means it must leave the castle for the first time for 30 years. We’ll be using state-of-the-art equipment to examine the cannon and carriage inside and out, to assess their condition. Then we’ll commence with treatment and restoration, which is a delicate and specialist task.”

Over the next few weeks the existing paintwork will be removed using a high pressure water system in combination with bead blasting. The iron surface revealed will then be examined, cleaned and dried carefully, before being re-painted. We hopeful that Mons Meg will be back on display at the castle by late February.

Despite many people believing that Mons Meg is fired each day at one o’clock, it is, in fact, a modern military cannon so visitors to the castle will still be able to see and hear the world-famous One o’clock Gun at Edinburgh Castle.

Want to track Mons Meg’s progress? Make sure you’re following @edinburghcastle on Twitter, and check out the hashtag #monsmegMOT.