Martyrs' Memorial
Sir Gilbert Scott's 1843 Gothic-Revival monument to Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley — the three Oxford Martyrs burned for heresy in 1555–1556.
The memorial sits at the southern end of St Giles' where it meets Magdalen Street and Beaumont Street. It is closely modelled on the medieval Eleanor Crosses (especially the one at Waltham), and was Sir Gilbert Scott's first major commission. The actual site of the burnings is on Broad Street, marked by a stone cross set into the road outside Balliol College.
The Martyrs' Memorial commemorates Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, and Nicholas Ridley — the three Anglican bishops burned at the stake in Oxford during the Marian persecutions of 1555–1556. It was erected in 1841–1843 in response to the Oxford Movement, the Anglo-Catholic revival within the Church of England that some Evangelicals saw as a slide back towards Rome.
The memorial was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott (his first major commission) in close imitation of the medieval Eleanor Crosses — the twelve memorials erected by Edward I in 1290 to mark the resting places of his queen Eleanor of Castile's funeral procession. The Waltham Cross was the closest model. The three statues, by Henry Weekes, depict Cranmer (centre, holding a Bible), Latimer (south side), and Ridley (north side).
The location is approximate: the actual site of the burnings, in the city ditch outside the medieval north wall, is marked by a stone cross set into the road on Broad Street outside Balliol College, about 200 metres south-east. Cranmer was burned on 21 March 1556, six months after Latimer and Ridley.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
