Tall & Urban News

The removal of a Bristol tower block sign bearing the name of a slave trader is the latest in a string of monuments and statues being pulled down across the country.

It comes as the Guy’s and St.Thomas’ hospitals in London announced it will remove two statues of their namesakes from public view due to their links to the slave trade.

A video circulating online on Thursday evening shows men in hard hats scaling Colston Tower in Bristol city center and removing the controversial figure’s name from atop the high-rise building.

Edward Colston’s name was removed from Colston Tower in Bristol.

The 15-story tower block, in Colston Street, accommodates a number of offices.

Hours earlier, Colston’s statue was fished out of Bristol harbour after being pulled down and dumped into the water during an anti-racism demonstration on Sunday.

The toppling of Colston’s statue acted as a catalyst for more monuments linked with Britain’s colonial past to be taken down.

The latest to follow suit is Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, after it confirmed two figures depicting Robert Clayton and Thomas Guy will be taken out of public view due to their association with the slave trade.

Clayton, a former Lord Mayor of London, had ties to the Royal African Company, which transported slaves to the Americas, while Guy invested in the South Sea Company, which was also involved in the trade.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust said in a statement: “Like many organisations in Britain, we know that we have a duty to address the legacy of colonialism, racism and slavery in our work.

“We absolutely recognize the public hurt and anger that is generated by the symbolism of public statues of historical figures associated with the slave trade in some way.

“We have therefore decided to remove statues of Robert Clayton and Thomas Guy from public view, and we look forward to engaging with and receiving guidance from the Mayor of London’s commission on each.

“We see the pervasive and harmful effects of structural racism every day through our work – black people have worse health outcomes, and this inequality is one of many ways racism permeates our society.”

Meanwhile, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council has delayed plans to temporarily remove a statue of Scouts founder Robert Baden-Powell after angry residents vowed to fight to protect it.

The council had originally said it would move the statue from Poole Quay on Thursday over concerns it was on a target list compiled by anti-racism activists.

Campaigners have focused in on Lord Baden-Powell due to his associations with the Nazis and the Hitler Youth programme, as well as his actions in the military.

The statue features on a “topple the racists” website which lists more than 60 statues and memorials across the UK which they argue should be taken down, because they “celebrate slavery and racism."

The row over the statue comes as authorities across the country face pressure to review contentious monuments following protests over the death of George Floyd and racial injustice.

Mr. Floyd died after a white police officer held him down by pressing his knee into his neck for almost eight minutes and 46 seconds in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020.

Campaigners have targeted tributes to 19th century slave owner Sir Thomas Picton, 18th century colonialist trader Robert Clive and 17th century merchant Elihu Yale who had links to the slave trade.

Memorials to Sir Robert Peel, founder of the Met Police in London have also been challenged, while in the past week graffiti has been left on statues of Queen Victoria in Leeds and Winston Churchill in London.

For more on this story, go to The Irish Times.