Photograph of a cannon in an unknown location, can anyone solve the mystery? 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
Photograph of a cannon in an unknown location, can anyone solve the mystery?
The York Herald of 13 November 1858, carries a marvellous account of the ceremonial opening of Mandale Road linking Stockton and Middlesbrough, a.k.a. The Wilderness. The article describes how Stockton’s cannon was taken to the top of Mandale Bank where it fired a royal salute of 21 guns, which was returned by a similar salute fired by Middlesbrough’s Crimean cannon situated at the opposite end of the road.07/02/2012 13:54:45
Yes, this is identical to the cannon that was placed in Ropner Park next to the fountain, as appears on a Brittain & Wright postcard (No.275). It was one of over 700 guns captured at Sebastopol and brought back to the UK as souvenirs of war. Not knowing what to do with them all, the Government decided to present one to each borough, as well as to major towns in the then Colonies. But come W.W. II and the appeal for scrap iron, a lot of towns – including Stockton – offered their cannon up for the war effort. Relatively few have survived, the nearest being the one at Middlesbrough which now stands outside the Dorman Museum. The 150th anniversary of the victory in the Crimea War takes place later this year. P.S. Where did the Stockton cannon stand before Ropner Park opened in 1893 ?
Known as “The Crimea-Cannon”,(1854-1856) a number of these cannons appeared locally, one as late as the 1980s in front of the Territorial Army HQ Stockton Road ,Middlesbrough, which came from Albert Park
This cannon can be seen next to the fountain in several pictures of Ropner Park.