Ram, High Street, Stroud

Image: © Brian Robert Marshall Taken: 9 Feb 2008

The following extract was found on digitalstroud.com: "The Cross is where the High Street divided into two roads, one leading to Bisley (Hill St.) and the other to Chalford (Nelson St.). In the 1700s, there was a well and pump at the Cross. In 1866, this was converted into a drinking fountain with four sculptured dolphins. The fountain was demolished by an Army vehicle in the 1940s, but one of the carved dolphins is in Stroud Museum. In the 1960s, many of the small alleys and yards around the Cross were demolished and a decade later much of the area was cleared to make way for a planned bypass road. After considerable protest by Stroud residents, only Cornhill was built. There is now a wall which divides the area of the cross from the High St. In 1987, a sculpture of a ram by local artist Jamie Vans was placed there." Although the sculpture was carved by Jamie Vans, it was designed by Judy Swaffin Vans.

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