# Colston bun

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Sweet bun with dried fruit and spices

Colston bun Type Sweet bread Place of origin England Region or state Bristol Main ingredients Yeast dough, dried fruit, candied peel, sweet spices

A **Colston bun** is a sweet [bun](/source/Bun) made of a [yeast](/source/Yeast) dough flavoured with dried fruit such as [currants](/source/Zante_currant), candied peel, and sweet [spices](/source/Spice). It is made in the city of [Bristol](/source/Bristol), England, and named after [Edward Colston](/source/Edward_Colston), a local merchant and [MP](/source/Member_of_parliament), who created the original recipe. There are two size categories: "dinner plate", with eight wedge marks on the surface, and "ha'penny staver", an individual-sized bun.[1][2]

The Colston bun is traditionally distributed to children on Colston Day (13 November), which celebrates the granting of a [royal charter](/source/Royal_charter) to the [Society of Merchant Venturers](/source/Society_of_Merchant_Venturers) by [King Charles I](/source/Charles_I_of_England) in 1639. The custom originated from the [Colston's School](/source/Colston's_School), which was established for poor children in Bristol during the early 18th century. Originally, the child would receive a large "dinner plate" bun with eight wedge marks so that individual portions could be broken off and shared with their family, plus a "staver" which could be eaten immediately to "stave off" hunger, and a gift of 2 [shillings](/source/Shilling_(English_coin)) (now 10p) from the wives of the Merchant Venturers. The gifts of buns and money were distributed to some school children in Bristol on Colston Day by the Colston Society.[3]

Colston buns are not widely known outside Bristol, and are generally only available for sale on occasion in independent bakers around the city.[4] In the 21st century, the name has become controversial because of Edward Colston's connections to the [slave trade](/source/Atlantic_slave_trade).[5] The Colston Society, which had operated for 275 years commemorating Colston and supporting the Colston Day distribution of the bun, decided to disband in 2020 after the [George Floyd protests](/source/George_Floyd_protests_in_the_United_Kingdom) and associated toppling of [Colston's statue in Bristol](/source/Statue_of_Edward_Colston); the society deemed it inappropriate to continue to memorialise him.[6]

## See also

- [List of British breads](/source/List_of_British_breads)

- [List of buns](/source/List_of_buns)

- [Food portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Food)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Davidson2014_1-0)** Alan Davidson (11 August 2014). [*The Oxford Companion to Food*](https://books.google.com/books?id=RL6LAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA118). Oxford University Press. p. 118. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-967733-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-967733-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Paul Potts (2013). [*One Chance: A Memoir*](https://books.google.com/books?id=haMPAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT37). Weinstein Publishing. p. 37. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-602-86239-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-602-86239-5).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Every picture tells a story – Colston Buns"](http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Undefined-Headline/story-11233081-detail/story.html). *Bristol Post*. 10 November 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2014.{{[cite news](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_news)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Bristol and the West: On the food map"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140503001421/http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/0/27198065). *BBC Food*. 2 May 2014. Archived from [the original](https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/0/27198065) on 3 May 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Buns, sermons and slave songs - how slave trader Edward Colston was awkwardly commemorated on Anti-Slavery Day"](https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/buns-sermons-slave-songs-how-652628). *Bristol Post*. 20 October 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-bp-20200913_6-0)** Cork, Tristan (13 September 2020). ["Bristol's original Colston Society to disband after 275 years"](https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/exclusive-bristols-original-colston-society-4512321). *Bristol Post*. Retrieved 14 September 2020.

## External links

- [Recipe for Colston buns](https://justbloggs.wordpress.com/2015/09/17/2886/)

v t e British breads List of British breads Bannock Bara brith Barley bread Barm cake Bath bun Batch or bun Bread roll Buttery Chelsea bun Chorleywood bread Cob Cockle bread Colston bun Cottage loaf Crumpet Dripping cake Farl Fried bread Griddle scone Hot cross bun Iced bun Lardy cake London bun Manchet Muffin Oatcake Pan loaf Plain loaf Potato scone Saffron bun Sally Lunn bun Scone Scuffler Singing hinny Staffordshire oatcake Stottie cake Recipes on WikiBooks Category:British breads Food portal United Kingdom portal

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Colston bun](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colston_bun) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colston_bun?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.