News / easton
Colston Road in Easton could have name changed
A suggestion box sits on one road in Easton whose name has been previously been daubed in red paint and is now covered with blue masking tape.
The suggestion box is to put in ideas for a new name for Colston Road.
It comes following the toppling of Edward Colston’s statue on Sunday, with the repercussions of the historic event being felt throughout the city.
So far, the Colston Hall has announced that it will reveal its new name by the autumn, the headmaster of Colston’s School in Stapleton said they are “looking again” at changing their name and Colston’s Girls School on Cheltenham Road have removed their replica statue of the slave trader.
Colston Road stretches from Chelsea Road to the Bristol & Bath Railway Path – photo by Martin Booth
There is historical precedent for changing names of roads and local authorities removing memorials.
In the USA, statues of Confederate leaders and slave owners are currently being removed from towns and cities across the south.
The statues, which honour soldiers and leaders on the losing side of the Civil War, are seen by many as symbols of racism and oppression – with many statues honouring former slave owners.
Spanish dictator Francisco Franco died in 1975, with the years after his death seeing roads and public squares across the country named after him being renamed.
In Salamanca, however, a bust of Franco in the Plaza Mayor was only finally removed in 2017, following years of his face being covered in paint.
Main photo by Martin Booth
Read more: Toppling of Colston statue provokes reaction across the world
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