Inscriptions: The Martyrs’ Memorial
The above text on the Martyrs’ Memorial at the south end of St Giles’ reads:
TO .THE.GLORY.OF.GOD
AND.IN.GRATEFUL.COMMEMORATION
OF.HIS.SERVANTS
THOMAS.CRANMER
NICHOLAS.RIDLEY
HUGH.LATIMER
PRELATES.OF.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
M.DCCCXLI
The Martyrs’ Memorial was erected in 1841 in memory of three Protestant martyrs who were burnt at the stake in Broad Street in 1555/6.
The above stone in the pavement in front of the memorial records the memorial’s restoration in 2002. It reads:
THE
MARTYRS’
MEMORIAL
WAS RESTORED IN
2002
TO MARK THE
75TH ANNIVERSARY OF
OXFORD PRESERVATION TRUST
An inscription on one of the shields on the Memorial commemorates Cranmer’s Authorized Version of the Bible of 1541. It reads:
| THE BYBLE IN ENGLYSH |
AUTHO RIZED MAYE MDXLI |