Double-headed eagle in Dartmouth

THE NATIONAL SYMBOL of Russia, both before and after the Communist era, is a bird with two heads, two necks, and a single body – the double-headed eagle (‘DHE’). I have long been interested in this imagined creature because it appears on the flag of Albania, a place that has interested me for many years.

While walking along the riverfront in Dartmouth (Devon), our friend pointed out a historic cannon positioned with its barrel pointing towards the water. On the top of the barrel there is a small bas-relief depicting a DHE.

The cannon was manufactured in the Russian city of Briansk in 1826. It was captured from the Russians in the Crimean War (1854-1856) and is one of several Russian cannons brought to England after or during that conflict.

We have visited Dartmouth many times before, but barely noticed the old cannon. Had our friend not told us of the origin of that cannon, one of many disused artillery pieces that can be found serving as ornaments all over England, I would have been unaware of this example of a double-headed eagle in Dartmouth.