Since Edward Colston came crashing down during a Black Lives Matter protest in Bristol in June 2020, there has been widespread discussion about statues. There has been a lot said of Colston's fall on either side of the debate but few have acknowledged the fact that up until five months ago, there was only one prominent historical sculpture of a woman in Bristol.
A sculpture of Queen Victoria, which has been subjected to vandalism in the past, still remains in College Green 124 years after it was first erected. Despite the achievements of countless women in Bristol throughout history, up until 2021, Queen Victoria - who was personally in opposition to women being granted the right to vote - was the only woman to gain recognition in the form of a life-size statue.
There has been a long campaign in Bristol to have more statues of women in the city, and in the last few years we have begun to see some. The first was in July 2020 when a temporary statue of Black Lives Matter activist Jen Reid, designed by Marc Quinn, was placed on the empty plinth where Colston once stood, only to be removed by Bristol City Council less than 24 hours later.
