Edward Colston: Road renamed ‘Colston Four Road’ in honour of the people who pulled down statue

The new sign certainly looks official
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A road named after slave trader Edward Colston has been unofficially renamed ‘Colston Four Road’ after the activists who tore his statue down.

The sign on the corner of Colston Road in Easton was added this week, above the original sign.

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The ‘Colston Four’ - Sage Willoughby, Rhian Graham, Milo Ponsford and Jake Skuse - were found not guilty of criminal damage after pulling the statue from its plinth during protests in June 2020.

Colston Road is just one of several roads named after Colston in the city.

A woman looks at the new Colston Four Road sign, put up in Easton over the weekendA woman looks at the new Colston Four Road sign, put up in Easton over the weekend
A woman looks at the new Colston Four Road sign, put up in Easton over the weekend

The bronze statue of the 17th-century slave trader stood in the centre of the city was pulled down and rolled into the River Avon during the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020.

The statue was later removed from the river and put on display in the city’s M Shed museum.

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In the week after the statue was removed, residents of Colston Road set up a suggestion box to put forward ideas for a new name for their road.

Now, almost two years on, a sign has gone up above one of the metal road signs, which is now covered and has the word ‘yobs’ written over it.

To change a street name, consent is needed from two-thirds of the ratepayers and council taxpayers living on the street.

The Colston Four activists were cleared of their charges in Bristol Crown Court on January 5, after the jury returned a majority verdict in two hours and 57 minutes.

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