Charles Pooley wrote in 1868 : "On the top of the Clearwell pedestal is a block of squared masonry, in which is inserted the remains of the shaft. The baldness of this block mars the outline of the whole, and conveys the impression that the original, which was doubtless designed in accordance with the same style of architecture as the pedestal, has been broken down and this put up as a substitute. Since the drawing was taken from which this plate was engraved an attempt has been made to supply the deficiency in the shaft by clumsily grafting on the stump a supplementary piece of stone , and this again surmounted by a cock with a bright red comb and wattles.
This stone had been selected and prepared for the purpose by a respectable local inhabitant, named Yarworth, more than twenty years previously. The good taste however, of Caroline, Countess of Dunraven, who has done so much for the village, has led to the removal of this incongruity, and at her expense the Cross has been restored in a style more in harmony with that which prevailed at the period of its erection. It is gratifying to find that the architect, fearing to carry the work of restoration too far, has most wisely contented himself with doing as little as possible to the structure itself, thus preserving unaltered the original character of the work. The only parts that have been touched are one of the angle-shafts, which was much decayed, and has since been remodeled out of Yarworth's monolith, for which purpose the stone was well suited, and the piece of the old shaft, which has been carefully copied and lengthened with a simple but elegant floriated Cross as a finial. The total height from the ground to the top of the Cross is 20 ft."

Clearwell Cross Restored (as drawn and designed by John Middleton)

Isabel Winstanley added (October 2017): "... The architect who repaired the cross was John Middleton. He also designed St Peter's Church, the mortuary chapel, the frontal on St Anne's well, remoddled the inside of what was Clearwell Court (now Castle) and designed the cottage hospital opposite Clearwell (now Dunravon) all at the expense of the Dowager Countess Caroline Dunravon. I am researching John Middleton's Gothic Revival architecture at Clearwell. Do you have any information and a picture of the chapel that was taken down in 1867, that predates the current one?"

Bernard Yeates added (July 2023): "... I have been looking for any Information/history on the remodeling of the interior of Clearwell Castle by John Middleton and now, since the advent of the internet, I feel that some long forgotten info., descriptions, drawings from that time may have come to light. He worked for the company R.E and C Marshall of Cheltenham which was still in operation in the 1960's. My parents bought the Castle back in 1954 when it was a ruin and started the renovations which I carried on after the death of my father in 1973 until we sold the Castle in 1983".

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