The Ram at the Cross, Stroud

I've cut and pasted some information about this site and the Ram sculpture. It did not always have googly eyes! Someone has added these recently. Many people think the sculpture is actually of an owl. The Ram signifies Stroud's erstwhile importance as a wool town. A sample of local pubs reveal the names The Old Fleece, the Golden Fleece, and The Ram Inn.

This area also has two socially distanced benches with a street view. . It is separated from the main road behind by a low wall, nicknamed The Berlin wall, and it's my new favourite spot for gazing down the locked down high street as I sip my takeaway tea from the Loganberry cafe. Only today, I did just that.




What: Historic town site
Where: GL5 2HL At the top of the High Street where the road forks to Bisley (Hill Street) and Chalford (Nelson Street)
Then: At one time, this was a regular hive of communal activity with the market, the town well and pump and later, stocks.
Now: Much of the area lies under a new road, Cornhill. A small public area and some rescued historical buildings remain at the top of the High Street.
In 1866, the pump 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.