Schoolboy finds civil war cannonball

A schoolboy said he was "looking for his football" when he unearthed what is thought to be a cannonball dating back to the English Civil War.

Nine-year-old Kayaan was on a school trip to Ufton Court, a Tudor manor near Reading, Berkshire when he discovered the golfball-sized object during an outdoor history learning session.

The manor grounds are known to have been the site of military skirmishes during the civil war in the mid-17th Century.

Kayaan, a student at Westfields Junior School, in Yateley, Hampshire said: "I had thought about being an archaeologist before, but now I really want to be one."

He explained that he was looking for his football in hedges that had recently been cleared by volunteers when he felt something heavy and uncovered a solid iron object.

The manor is now home to the Ufton Court Educational Trust, which delivers immersive outdoor education to about 20,000 children each year.

The trust said his find would now be examined more closely, but its "immediate significance is already clear".

Chief executive Sarah Lindsell said: "We spend a lot of time worrying about children growing up on screens.

"Then a child finds a cannonball on a school trip and wants to be an archaeologist. That is what happens when learning is outdoors."

Headteacher at Westfields Junior School, Jo Redman said: "We know learning beyond the classroom builds curiosity and confidence.

"This discovery perfectly captures the awe and wonder that such experiences can inspire, turning history into something truly memorable," she added.

The English Civil War was fought between 1642 and 1651.

The brutal and bloody conflict saw the country divided between Royalist forces, known as the Cavaliers, who were loyal to King Charles I, and the Parliamentarians, also called the Roundheads, led by Oliver Cromwell.

A 1892 account from a former Ufton Court tenant, Mary Sharp, notes that the area around Ufton Court saw active combat with rival armies maneuvering along the River Kennet between Reading and Newbury.

The cannonball will be taken to West Berkshire Museum for further analysis and formal identification.