Bath Spar

King Edgar and

King Cole1983

The sculptures stylistically appear to be 15th centaury and depict King Edgar and king Cole of the nursery rhyme fame. Cole  was the first English king to reside in Bath after its restoration under Agricola, he began his reign in AD125. Edgar, shown in armour, was crowned in the Abbey Church, King of England 11th May AD 973. They may have been placed on the earlier thirteenth century bridge fortifications but the first known siting is on the north face of Inigo Jones' Town Hall of 1625 and then on the old Guildhall. They were removed when building work started on the new Guildhall (Atwood, architect) in 1766. They arrived in Bath street along with a seated figure placed in a niche on the  south face of the building which was the City museum at that time. The third figure collapsed in the 1960s as reported in the Bath Chronicle and now it’s niche is covered by the new Spa building. Mr Barter, Mayors assistant,   owned the house when I arrived to conserve the figures.The figures  were removed in many pieces and had to be repaired and reassembled on  specially designed  ceramic supports fired in Mike Bailey's Kiln in Dorset St.The figures were fixed to the backing using ceramic fixings and lime mortar joints, no metal was used in this process. Large amounts of lime mortar were used to consolidate the stone.