Three 18-tonne guns from the late 1800s have been removed from Fort St. Catherine and will be restored sometime this year as part of a project by the Parks Department.

Works and Engineering staff began the project during the week of Christmas, removing the barrels for restoration before they are put back in Bermuda's forts.

The guns are thought to have been tossed out of the fort as "useless" sometime between the turn of the century and World War II, and have since sat unused, slowly disintegrating due to sand and surf.

The 10-inch rifled muzzle loader guns guarded Fort St. Catherine in the 1870s, when the eastern end of the Island was heavily defended by a line of forts.

Park planner Drew Petit explained he, along with the former Curator of Forts Lance Furbert, wanted to begin the project years ago.

After they were unable to get sponsorship from various private firms for help, Government came to the rescue.

Mr. Petit said: "The project was completed with much enthusiasm by the machine operators of Works and Engineering and could not have been done without the support of Mr. Robert Horton Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Works and Engineering and Ms Tammy Harmer, as the supervising structural engineering technologist. We are extremely grateful for their support."

He added the beach has been left in a good state, with minimal damage to the rocky coastline under the fort. "It is worth noting that the foreshore of Fort St. Catherine is the site of an old pier, so it has not been in pristine condition since at least the 1870s.

"The three rescued barrels have been stacked by the road for easy access for moving by the Dept of Parks in January. The fort guides will gear up and start restoring the barrels in the New Year."

Minister of the Environment and Sports, Glenn Blakeney said: "The removal and imminent restoration of these historically important guns is an exciting development for the Department of Parks and their continued restoration of Bermuda's forts and military history.

"I am thrilled that the Department of Parks, in co-operation with the Ministry of Works and Engineering, has done what many on the Island said couldn't be done.

"The restoration and installation of these guns will enhance our UNESCO World Heritage sites and provide further tangible evidence as to Bermuda's historical role as the 'Gibraltar of the West' for the education and enjoyment of Bermudians and visitors to our shores."

Why rifled muzzle loading artillery became obsolete

Each rifled muzzle loader gun could fire a 400-pound shell through ten inches of ship armour at 1,000 yards.

But the guns could only fire one round every three minutes, which was fine against slow-moving, wooden sail ships but poor against fast-moving armoured steam ships.

By the 1890s, rifled muzzle loaders were replaced by new steel breach-loading guns, but Fort St. Catherine wasn't rearmed with the new weaponry, mostly because of the fort's geographical exposure. The fort was eventually abandoned in favour of Alexandria Battery and Fort Victoria.

It is unknown when the guns were thrown out of the fort – allegedly abandoned as useless – but it was either at the turn of the century or as late as the Second World War when Fort St. Catherine was used by US forces as a submarine listening post.

Three of the five guns landed on the beach, one in the water and one near Achilles Bay where they sat until they were removed last week.

Rifled muzzle loaders represent an interesting period in the development of artillery.

Bermuda was armed with 23, almost ten percent of the 250 that were ever made.