• Home
• Inscriptions
• Parish Marks
• Post Boxes
• Telephone Boxes
• Wayside Stones
• Street lamps
• Research your street

Inscriptions: Cecil Rhodes, Plaque in King Edward Street

This bust of Cecil John Rhodes (1853–1902) is on the outside wall of 6 King Edward Street (which is owned by Oriel College), high up between two first-floor windows.

It was sculpted in 1906 by Onslow Whiting and commissioned by Sir Alfred Mosely,  a former Cape diamond merchant and associate of Rhodes.

It has the following inscription underneath

IN THIS HOUSE THE RIGHT
HON. CECIL JOHN RHODES
KEPT ACADEMICAL RESIDENCE
IN THE YEAR 1881.

THIS MEMORIAL IS ERECT-
ED BY ALFRED MOSELY
IN RECOGNITION OF THE
GREAT SERVICES RENDERED
BY CECIL RHODES TO
HIS COUNTRY

Rhodes was matriculated at the University of Oxford by Oriel College on 13 October 1873 when he was aged 20, but returned to South Africa for health reasons after only one term. He came back to Oxford in 1876 and lived first at 116 High Street and then here at 6 King Edward Street, obtaining his B.A. and M.A. pass degree simultaneously in 1881 at the age of 28.

Following the receipt on 6 November 2015 of the petition from the “Rhodes Must Fall in Oxford” movement, Oriel College issued a statement on 17 December 2015 which included the following:

“We are starting the process of consultation with Oxford City Council this week in advance of submitting a formal application for consent to remove the Rhodes plaque on No. 6 King Edward Street, an Oriel-owned property. This plaque was erected in 1906 by a private individual. Its wording is a political tribute, and the College believes its continuing display on Oriel property is inconsistent with our principles. The plaque is not listed but consent is required for its removal because it is within a conservation area.”

No such planning application was made, and on 21 July 2022 this sculpture was awarded Grade II listed status (List Entry 1482860)

• BBC News: “Oriel College's Cecil Rhodes plaque given Grade II listed status”

---

Press articles on the proposed removal of the plaque and statue of Rhodes in Oxford

Rhodes statue on the Rhodes Building in the High,
with anti-pigeon netting, December 2015

New Statesman

• 20 November 2015:
  “‘Rhodes must fall,’ chants the crowd. But bringing down an imperialist’s statue won’t change the past”

Telegraph

• 18 December 2015:
  “Oxford college gives in to pressures from Rhodes racism campaigners”
  and
  “The campaign to topple Oxford University's Cecil Rhodes statue is too silly for words”
• 21 December 2015:
  “Oxford student who wants Rhodes statue down branded 'hypocrite' for taking money from trust”
• 28 December 2015:
  “Student behind Cecil Rhodes campaign accuses Oxford of spreading ‘injustice’ around the world”
• 2 January 2016:
  “Trevor Phillips criticizes Rhodes Must Fall campaign”
• 13 January 2016:
  “Cecil Rhodes: Lord Patten warns against 'pandering to contemporary views' over statue row”
• 15 January 2016:
  “Universities are for thinking, not protesting”
  

Daily Mail

• 18 December 2015:
  “PC zealots force Oxford University to rip down plaque honouring 19th century imperialist Cecil Rhodes after students branded him 'racist’”
• 21 December 2015:
  “Mary Beard raps zealots in Oxford Rhodes row: Historian says students who want memorials removed cannot ‘whitewash’ history while still benefiting from his legacy”
• 14 January 2016:
  “Student accuses Oxford University of being 'institutionally racist' after Lord Patten tells protesters to go to university somewhere else if they're offended by a Cecil Rhodes statue on campus”

Guardian

• 20 December 2015:
  “Cecil Rhodes was a racist, but you can’t readily expunge him from history”
  and
  “It’s time for the arts world to look hard at its own racism”
• 22 December 2015:
  “Oxford students step up campaign to remove Cecil Rhodes statue”
  and editorial:
  “The Guardian view on Cecil Rhodes’– good”
• 15 January 2016:
  “Over one third of Oxford students want Cecil Rhodes statue removed”

Independent:

• 22 December 2015:
  “Cecil Rhodes statue row: Oxford academics propose sign distancing Oriel College from imperialist's views”
  and
  “Rhodes must fall – and please don't call the students who are protesting against his presence 'coddled'”
• 23 December 2015:
  “Cecil Rhodes row: Some of Oxford’s more naive students need to grow up”
  and
  “Oxford University risks 'damaging its standing' if it pulls down Cecil Rhodes statue, warns Tony Abbott”
• 28 December 2015:
  “Oxford law student Ntokozo Qwabe calls for universities to ban French flag after Paris attacks, comparing it to ‘Nazi flag’”

International Business Times

• “Cecil Rhodes was a racist, but so were many Victorians. We can't erase all bad guys from history”

Catholic Herald (blog)

• 29 December 2015:
  “Cecil Rhodes, for better or for worse, is part of our history”

BBC News

• 17 December 2015:
  “Oxford college considers removing Rhodes statue”
• 24 December 2015:
  “Removing Rhodes statue 'moral vanity', says Tony Abbott”
• 29 January 2016:
  “Cecil Rhodes statue to be kept by Oxford University college”