Oxford Martyrs Memorial

The Martyrs' Memorial, in Oxford

The Martyrs' Memorial is a neo-Gothic monument of Oxford, which commemorates three Protestant bishops burned in the sixteenth century. The Oxford audio-guided tour stops here, with respect and contemplation, to evoke this place of memory of a tragic episode of English religious history.

The monument to the Oxford Martyrs

This elegant stone monument, which could easily be part of a religious building, commemorates the three Oxford Martyrs: the bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley, as well as Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. These churchmen, important figures of the Protestant Reformation in England, were condemned for heresy and burned alive at the stake in Oxford, in the middle of the sixteenth century, under the reign of Queen Mary Tudor, who undertook to re-establish Catholicism. Their ordeal, endured with courage, durably marked English religious history and made them symbols of the Protestant cause. The memorial, erected much later in the nineteenth century in a neo-Gothic style inspired by the medieval crosses, honours their memory in the heart of the town, not far from the place where they perished. This slender monument, adorned with statues of the three martyrs, invites to remembrance and to reflection on tolerance. A place of memory laden with gravity, the Martyrs' Memorial is discovered with respect and contemplation.

What to see

Here you discover, with respect and contemplation, the elegant nineteenth-century neo-Gothic monument, inspired by the medieval crosses, which commemorates the three Oxford Martyrs, the bishops Latimer and Ridley and the archbishop Cranmer, burned for heresy in the middle of the sixteenth century under Mary Tudor, adorned with their statues. The Martyrs' Memorial is a place of memory of Oxford. It is a stop to be discovered with respect and contemplation.

Practical information

The Martyrs' Memorial lies on St Giles', in the heart of Oxford, reachable on foot. It is an open-air memorial monument, freely accessible, where you observe the respect due to the memory of the executed. You discover it during a walk in the centre.

Who are the martyrs commemorated in Oxford?

The three Oxford Martyrs: the bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley and the archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, figures of the Protestant Reformation, condemned for heresy and burned alive in the middle of the sixteenth century under the reign of Mary Tudor; the neo-Gothic memorial honours their memory.

Where is the Martyrs' Memorial of Oxford?

On St Giles', in the heart of Oxford, in England.