Most in Gloucestershire town agree 240-year-old statue should be taken down, but Dan Guthrie argues against preserving it at all

The Stroud-raised artist Dan Guthrie had just come out of a meeting about what to do with the “racist” blackboy clock that has been present in his home town for 240 years, when he had a thought. Why not just destroy it?

The clock that sits on the side of a former school has been at the centre of a culture war in Stroud since 2021, when Guthrie asked the local council why the figure, who has large red lips and is wearing a golden leaf skirt, was still present in the town.