The Black Swan has been the town emblem for well over forty years, and you will see a black swan pictured on the Dawlish town signs as you drive in.

Dawlish has been famous for its black swans for a long time - there are records of black swans on the Brook in the early 1900s. At some point between the two World Wars the original line of black swans was lost, and in the late 1940s Captain C R S Pitman, a game warden in Uganda, presented a pair of Black Swans to Dawlish in memory of his late parents, and a flock was re-established. Black Swans have inhabited the Brook ever since.

Black Swans are mostly black feathered birds, but have white flight feathers, which are clearly seen when the swans stretch out their wings. The bill is bright red. Cobs are slightly larger than pens, with a longer and straighter bill. Cygnets are a greyish-brown with pale-edged feathers. They are native to Australia.

The black swans are very much at home on the Brook. You will see them on the Lawn in the early mornings and evenings resting and eating grass.