176 The Bristol High Cross™at Stourhead, Wiits. 
wide reputation of Sir R. C. Hoare has overshadowed the con- 
siderable antiquarian tastes and capabilities of his father, as evinced 
in this and the similar work of removing to Stourhead, in 1765, 
the building known as S. Peter’s Pump, from the south-west corner 
of Peter Street, Bristol (where it, in 1633, superseded the ancient 
openwork cross erected by Spencer, Mayor of Bristol, in 1474). 
This he erected about a mile higher up the valley at the extreme 
source of the Stour. It is not recorded how these two relics came 
to be presented to Mr. Hoare; the fact proves that his influence at 
Bristol was considerable. 
The stone used, both in the work of 1373 and that of 1633, is a 
Bath oolite—apparently from Combe Down. In the rebuilding 
Mr. Hoare substituted a large core of Chilmark stone for the 
original central shaft of the lower open stage, presumably for 
increased stability. Unfortunately, in his zeal to still further 
strengthen the structure, he made the great mistake of freely 
employing von for dowels, cramps, and tie-rods; a central rod of 
iron being carried up through the core of the upper stage and the 
spirelet. This had the most disastrous results, the stone becoming 
split and fractured in all directions from the expansion of the iron 
by oxidation ; this, together with the fall of a tree against the 
Cross in recent times, had rendered the condition of the fabric 
most perilous, and many of the more delicate portions had become 
lost. At the time when the fall of the Cross appeared to be immi- 
nent Sir H. H. A. Hoare succeeded to the Stourhead estate (July, 
1894), and one of his first acts of ownership was to take steps to 
ascertain its condition and render it secure. The work was placed 
under the care of the writer, who had examined the Cross from a 
scaffold prepared for the purpose, and its execution was entrusted 
to Messrs. Hems & Sons, of Exeter. 
The Cross was strongly shored and supported by iron girders, 
resting on concrete foundations, and the stonework was preserved 
intact, as far as possible; but it was found absolutely necessary to 
rebuild it from the point D upwards; this was done stone for stone 
as it originally existed, and the remainder carefully repaired, and 
copper cramps substituted for iron. 
