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This is now one of the most politically incorrect items of food...
Colston buns are dinner plate size hot cross buns where, instead of the cross, the top has been scored in order that they can easily be divided into 8 pieces. A delicacy local to Bristol that were generally unknown outside of the city. They were not invented by Edward Colston himself, but emerged during the second half of the 19th century as part of the Cult of Colston that swept through Bristol.
Until a few years ago, the children from Colston’s schools in Bristol would attend a church service on 13 November (or the nearest weekday) commemorating the granting of a Royal Charter to the Society of Merchant Venturers in 1639. Afterwards the children would be given a Colston bun to take home and share with their family, and a ha’penny starver to eat immediately – which is a hot cross bun without the cross on it. There is a theory that the Colston bun is scored on top so that it can be shared, just like how Edward Colston shared his fortune.
Colston buns were available for the public to buy from independent bakeries in Bristol and the former Carrefour supermarket (now Asda) at Cribbs Causeway. It is unknown if they are still commercially available as a result of the ‘decolstonising’ of Bristol that has taken place after the statue of Edward Colston was toppled in 2020.
Has anybody here eaten a Colston bun?
Colston buns are dinner plate size hot cross buns where, instead of the cross, the top has been scored in order that they can easily be divided into 8 pieces. A delicacy local to Bristol that were generally unknown outside of the city. They were not invented by Edward Colston himself, but emerged during the second half of the 19th century as part of the Cult of Colston that swept through Bristol.
Until a few years ago, the children from Colston’s schools in Bristol would attend a church service on 13 November (or the nearest weekday) commemorating the granting of a Royal Charter to the Society of Merchant Venturers in 1639. Afterwards the children would be given a Colston bun to take home and share with their family, and a ha’penny starver to eat immediately – which is a hot cross bun without the cross on it. There is a theory that the Colston bun is scored on top so that it can be shared, just like how Edward Colston shared his fortune.
Colston buns were available for the public to buy from independent bakeries in Bristol and the former Carrefour supermarket (now Asda) at Cribbs Causeway. It is unknown if they are still commercially available as a result of the ‘decolstonising’ of Bristol that has taken place after the statue of Edward Colston was toppled in 2020.
Has anybody here eaten a Colston bun?