Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1843, the Martyr’s memorial has been a major monument in Oxford for the past 162 years. Standing in St Gilles, near St John’s College, it was recently restored, and despite attempts to move the towering statue elsewhere, it has stayed in place, a focal point for the area. It commemorates the deaths of Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, and Hugh Latimer, who were burnt at the stake by Queen Mary, in 1555-6 for being Protestants.

This is the inscription written on the base:
‘To the glory of God and in grateful commemoration of His servants Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh Latimer, Prelates to the Church of England, who near this spot yielded their bodies to be burned, bearing witness to the sacred truths which they had affirmed and maintained against the errors of the church of Rome, and rejoicing that to them it was given not only to believe in Christ, but also to suffer for his sake. This monument was erected by public subscription in the year of our lord God MDCCCXLI.’

The Martyr’s memorial was built as part of a clash between the Church of England and the Tractarianist movement. The Tractarianists believed that The Church of England was catholic in doctrine. The Church of England erected the statue to remind people of how Catholics had martyred Protestants.