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A family from north Wales had no idea they had an 18th Century Chinese cannon sitting in their back garden.

The cannon has been with the family for about 120 years and was spotted by an expert who had come to value other items at their home.

It dates back to 1789, during the Qianlong Period, and has been valued at Duke's of Dorchester auction house at £100,000.

Managing Director and Head of Asian Art Lee Young said it was a "rare find".

The family, originally from Anglesey, moved to Dorchester in Dorset and had used the cannon as a garden ornament.

Mr Young said the 258kg (40st 9lb) military cannon was a particularly unusual find in Britain, as they were seldom seen outside of Asia.

"This is an incredibly rare find", he said.

"You can see these a lot in places like Beijing but they are not things that will often find their way back from China so to see it in someone's back garden is a bit of a surprise."

The cannon will go up for sale on Monday 9 November, where is is valued at £100,000.

Mr Young said the international interest that lots like this would usually receive has remained high, despite a coronavirus restrictions forcing it to go digital.

The history

According to the auctioneers selling the rare Chinese bronze cannon, it dates back to 1789, during the Qianlong Period.

The 258kg cannon bears inscription dating to the third month of the Qianlong 54th year (1789), Governors Cup, from Guo Xing Fu the merchant group.

Guo Xing Fu was in charge of the maritime trade across southeast China, all foreign merchants bought Chinese export cargoes into Xiamen seaport during the turning point of the Ming and Qing dynasties.