80% of people want Bristol's Colston Statue to be in a museum
A report has been released looking at the future of Bristol's Edward Coslton statue.
Last updated 3rd Feb 2022
In the summer of 2021, the 'We Are Bristol’ History Commission opened a public engagement about the future of the Colston statue and the plinth.
Nearly 14,000 people joined in to share their ideas and views.
Participants had a chance to see the statue and learn about its history in a display at the M Shed museum. People also viewed the display online.
Alongside the display was a survey that invited people from Bristol and beyond to share their views.
We have seen this survey as a chance for the city to speak and for people to listen to each other.
This report summarises findings from this historic engagement. We are very grateful to all who took the time to participate, and in due course the millions of words people shared will be available in the city archives in an anonymised format, for anyone to read. The answers you have given will help to decide the future of the statue and plinth.
What do people want to do?
1. Most people wish to see the Colston statue on display in a Bristol museum.
3 out of 4 people said to put the statue in a Bristol museum (74 per cent).
Bristol residents agreed with this option even more strongly, with 4 out of 5 people from Bristol saying the statue should be on display in a Bristol museum (80 per cent).
Around 1 in 6 people from Bristol (16 per cent) did not want the statue on display in a Bristol museum. Of this 16 per cent, around three-quarters wanted it returned to the plinth and around one quarter wanted it destroyed or not on display.
4% of Bristol respondents did not have a strong opinion on the matter.
In the sample, for every 1 person from Bristol who said they would like the statue displayed vertically and cleaned up, 5 said to present it in its current state. The most common view was that it should be horizontal and with graffiti intact. Many people said they liked how it appeared in the temporary display.
2. A majority of people support adding a plaque in the vicinity of the plinth to reflect the events of 7 June 2020.
More than 5 out of 8 people (65 per cent) support adding a plaque. Around 3 out of 10 (29 per cent) disagree with adding a plaque.
Support for a plaque is even stronger in Bristol, where 7 out of 10 Bristol residents (71 per cent) agree with adding a plaque to reflect the events of 7 June 2020.
3. Nearly 6 out of 10 Bristol respondents (58 per cent) support using the plinth for temporary artworks or sculptures, and another 15% neither agreed nor disagreed, suggesting a total of 7 out of 10 are open to this option (72 per cent).
Opinion was mixed on what to do with the plinth, but a clear majority either support or are open to using the plinth for temporary artworks. Across the survey as a whole, nearly 5 in 8 either agreed with (49 per cent) or neither agreed nor disagreed (15 per cent) with using the plinth in this way.
Fewer people were in favour of using the plinth for a permanent artwork (supported by fewer than 4 out of 10) or leaving the plinth empty (supported by 3 out of 10). Smaller numbers wished to see the Colston statue put back up on the plinth (supported by 1 in 10 in the city) or for the plinth to be removed entirely.
4. More than 5 out of 8 Bristol residents (65 per cent) said they feel either very positive( 50 per cent) or positive (15 per cent) about the statue being pulled down. Across the survey as a whole, over half (56 per cent) said they feel positive about the statue being pulled down.
Just over 1 in 3 people (36 per cent) reported feeling negative about this, with the manner of removal the number one explanation for feeling this way.
RECOMMENDATIONS - From the report
Future of the Colston Statue
Recommendation 1
"We recommend that the Colston statue enters the permanent collection of the Bristol City Council Museums service."
Recommendation 2
"We recommend that the statue is preserved in its current state and the opportunity to reflect this in the listing description is explored with Historic England."
Recommendation 3
"We recommend that the statue be exhibited, drawing on the principles and practice of the temporary M Shed display where the statue was lying horizontally. We recommend that attention is paid to presenting the history in a nuanced, contextualised and engaging way, including information on the broader history of the enslavement of people of African descent."
Future of the empty plinth
Recommendation 4
"We recommend that the former Colston statue plinth, along with the original plaques, remain in place and that a new plaque is installed that briefly and factually explains when and why the statue was put up and taken down. We suggest the following wording for the new plaque: ## 'On 13 November 1895, a statue of Edward Colston (1636 - 1721) was unveiled here celebrating him as a city benefactor. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, the celebration of Colston was increasingly challenged given his prominent role in the enslavement of African people. On 7 June 2020, the statue was pulled down during Black Lives Matter protests and rolled into the harbour. Following consultation with the city in 2021, the statue entered the collections of Bristol City Council’s museums."
Recommendation 5
"We recommend that the Conservation Area Character Appraisal is updated to include
a) the events of 7 June 2020, b) this process of public engagement and c) the decision to locate the statue within Bristol City Council Museums service. We recommend that the opportunity to reflect the current state of the plinth in the National List description is explored."
Recommendation 6
"We recommend that the city think creatively about the empty plinth and its immediate vicinity. We recommend that funding is sought from public and private sources to commission temporary artworks and activities. These might take a digital or physical form, on and around the plinth. We recommend that two principles guide future use of the plinth:
• that there are periods of intentional emptiness and presence;
• that this is a space for dialogue and conversation about things that matter in and for the city, including the legacy of transatlantic slavery."
Conclusion of the report
"The survey has shown that there is much that we as a city agree on. Most of us think that the best place for the statue is in a museum in the city.
Most of us think the plinth should remain, with a new plaque, and should be a space for ongoing conversation. There are also areas where our views differ. We should welcome this. Thinking differently is not a problem, but something to be celebrated. A core principle of democracy is not simply tolerating but valuing differences in opinion.
The world – and our city – would be all the poorer without differences in the ways we think about the past, present and future."
What will happen next?
The findings and recommendations are being shared with the Bristol Mayor and elected officials, to help them decide on next steps.