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Redcliffe side being kept at Temple Cross, als St. Alle^^e, or Stallege 

 Cross ; and also that from the old Markett, near Lawford's Gate ; 

 and both being made one, were kept where now it is, and a f aire Cross 

 there built, viz, the High Cross, which is beautiful, with the statues of 

 several of our Kings."* Other Calendars also allude to the same 

 thing. 



It is difficult to account for this discrepancy of dates, otherwise 

 than by supposing that either the Calendars are not trustworthy 

 records, (and the fact that the pen of Chatterton was known to touch 

 some of them, makes their unqualified acceptance as historical docu- 

 ments anything but easy,) or else the rebuilding of the Cross in 1373 

 consisted in certain additions and embellishments, the rest of the 

 High Cross, with the statues of the Kings, remaining as it was 

 before. It must be remembered, however, that Barrett expressly states, 

 that the erection of the Cross of 1373 was only the " rebuilding the 

 removed Cross on the very spot where the old one stood," implying 

 clearly the existence of a High Cross before that time, and on the 

 same site. 



The plate of Bristol High Cross is taken from a scarce old engraving 

 in my possession, and represents the Cross as it appeared after its 

 restoration in 1633, at which time the upper stage of statues, and the 

 tier above, and the curious nondescript pinnacle, were added. 



In a valuable paper read before the Bristol and West of England 

 Architectural Society, in 1849, by John Norton, Esq. the architect 

 of the Cross now standing on College Green, it appears that the 

 material used in the construction of the old Cross was a coarse-grained 

 oolite, the ova being large and distinct, and hence liable to absorb 

 moisture, and become injured by frost. This fault was remedied for 

 many centuries by the application of polychromatic colouring, which 

 evidently formed an effectual preservative against the weather. In its 

 present mutilated state, the Cross affords sufficient proof that originally, 

 not the figures only, but the entire surface of the stone work was thus 

 enriched, the figures having best preserved these remains of colouring. 

 The colours used were vermilion, blue, and gold. The gilding may 

 be traced in every part, — on the ribs of the groining, &c. but the 

 vermilion being the most durable, has retained its rich hue, while 

 the blue has faded to pale grey. The dresses of the figures were for 

 the most part painted vermilion; the mantles, and such portions of 

 dress, blue ; the borders, and other subsidiary ornamental parts, being 

 relieved with gold. But this surface of painting has long fallen into 



• Memoirs Historical and Topographical of Bristol. By the Rot. Samuel Seyers, M.A 



