Oxford's first traditional free-standing war
memorial in Bonn Square, remembering the
dead of the Tirah and other campaigns of 1897/8
Memorials in Oxford to
wars before 1914
All Souls College (1438)
By far the oldest war memorial in Oxford is All Souls College, which was founded in 1438 by King Henry VI and Henry Chichele (Fellow of New College and Archbishop of Canterbury) to commemorate the victims of the Hundred Years' War. Its full name is "The college of all the souls of the faithful departed in Oxford":
Balochistan (1885/6)
List of names only
Brass plaque on the wall of St Mary-the-Virgin Church, High Street
Tirah and other campaigns (1897/8)
Some of the names linked to brief biographies
Bonn Square: Oxford's first free-standing war memorial
South African (Boer) War (1899–1902)
The second free-standing war memorial erected in Oxford, with list of names only (now moved to
Edward Brooks Barracks near Abingdon)
Also a pair of demolished South African War Memorial Cottages erected in Cowley in 1902 and the Magdalen College
memorial
Oxford War Memorial, St Giles’
New Marston War Memorial, Marston Road
Wall memorial in All Saints' Church, Headington
Headington Quarry
War Memorial, Holy Trinity
First World War memorials in Oxford
Most of these were originally First World War memorials, but most have later inscriptions also remembering the dead of the Second World War.
If the memorial you are interested in has not been put online, you can often get the names from the database of the Imperial War Museums. For example, the names of the 17 men of St Mary Magdalen parish can be seen here
Some of the memorials below (where indicated) are linked to external websites not connected to this one
As St Michael's Church is the City Church, it has a book recording the details of all Oxford men killed in each world war. This is very useful in making positive identifications of many men on the CWGC site this can be viewed online by members of the Oxfordshire Family History Society
First World War Memorials on
Oxford's streets and green spaces
City War Memorial in St Giles’, Oxford
Free-standing memorial with no individual names
Photographs of memorial and more information
This memorial covered the city as it was in 1921, so excluded villages such as Cowley, Headington, and Marston, which erected their own memorials
New Marston war memorial, Marston Road, Oxford
Free-standing war memorial
Full biographies
Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry War Memorial at Rose Hill, Oxford
Free-standing memorial with no individual names
Photographs of memorial (and of OBLI plaques in Town Hall)
Summertown War Memorial, Banbury Road, Oxford
Free-standing memorial with no individual names
Photographs of memorial
Wolvercote Airmen, Port Meadow
Free-standing memorial with names of those who died in flying accidents in 1917/18
PDF biographies, plus photographs of unveiling
First World War Memorials
in churches or churchyards
All Saints’ Church, Headington, Oxford
Small free-standing memorial in churchyard
plus board inside with names
Full biographies
Cowley Road Methodist Church
Memorial tablet inside the church
Biographies by the church and
Biographies by “Wesleys Oxford”
Holy Trinity Church, Headington Quarry, Oxford
Free-standing memorial in churchyard
plus stone plaque in porch
with names
Full biographies
Holy Trinity Church, St Ebbe's, Oxford
Plaque now in St Aldate's parish centre
Biographies on “Roll of Honour” website
St Aldate's Church, Oxford
Plaque on outside wall of church and oak reredos inside unveiled
as a war memorial by the Bishop of Oxford on 5 June 1920
Biographies on “Roll of Honour” website
St Aloysius' Church, Woodstock Road, Oxford
Plaque inside church
List of names with CWGC links
St Andrew’s Church, Old Headington, Oxford
Triptych on inside wall of church
Full biographies
St Barnabas's Church, Jericho
Plaque inside church
List of names with CWGC links
St Clement's Church, Marston Road, Oxford
Free-standing memorial with no names, which are listed separately on a scroll inside the church
List of names with CWGC links
St Columba's Church, Alfred Street, Oxford
Panels inside church
List of names on Imperial War Museum website
St Cross (Holywell) Church, Oxford
Plaque inside former church
List of names with CWGC links and
Brief biographies on “Roll of Honour” website
St Ebbe's Church, Oxford
Board inside church
List of names with CWGC links
St Frideswide’s Church, Botley Road, Oxford
Board inside church
Brief biographies (with some full ones)
St Giles’ Church, Oxford
Brass memorial on wall inside church
PDF biographies written for the church
St John the Evangelist Church, New Hinksey
Board inside church
List of names
St Margaret’s Church, Margaret Road, North Oxford
Free-standing
war memorial outside church
Full biographies
St Mary-the-Virgin Church, Iffley, Oxford
Bronze plaque inside the church
List of names
St Mary & St John Church, Cowley Road, Oxford
Triptych inside the church
List of names
St Matthew's Church, Marlborough Road, Oxford
Board inside church
Full biographies on “66 men of Grandpont” website
St Michael at the Northgate Church, Cornmarket, Oxford
Framed rolls of honour for the two world wars
List of names with CWGC links and
PDF biographies by Barry Burnham
St Nicholas’s Church, Old Marston, Oxford
Free-standing war memorial with no names, which are listed on plaque inside church
Full biographies
St Paul's Church, Walton Street, Oxford
Plaque has been moved to St Barnabas' Church
List of names with CWGC links
St Peter-in-the-East Church, Oxford
Plaque now in the former St Cross Church
Full biographies
St Peter's Church, Wolvercote, Oxford
Free-standing memorial in the churchyard
List of names with CWGC links
St Peter-le-Bailey Church, New Inn Hall Street, Oxford
Wooden board inside the former church
List of names with CWGC links
St Thomas the Martyr Church, Becket Street, Oxford
Wooden board on wall of church
List of names with CWGC links
Walton Street Methodist Chapel, Oxford
Plaque has been moved to the Wesley Memorial Church
Full biographies
Wesley Memorial Church, New Inn Hall Street, Oxford
Plaque on wall of church
List of names with CWGC links and
Biographies on the “Wesleys Oxford” website
First World War memorials in Oxford Schools and Clubs
Central Boys' School, Gloucester Green
Board transferred to the Spires Academy
Brief biographies
Dragon School, Bardwell Road, North Oxford
Free-standing war memorial
Biographies on “Roll of Honour” website
Oxford Boys’ High School, George Street, Oxford
Plaque inside former school
List of names with CWGC links
Balliol College Boys' Club
Plaque moved from club house in St Ebbe's to Balliol Archives, St Cross Road
Brief biographies
First World War memorials in Colleges of the University of Oxford
Christ Church has a war memorial garden. The only other college to have a free-standing war memorial was Magdalen, but they gave it away to the village of Wheatley in 1974. All colleges have a war memorial board or plaque, usually in or near the chapel, and some of them include townspeople who worked for them
Jesus College, Oxford
Board in private room inside college
Full biographies
St John’s College, Oxford
Stone plaque in inner courtyard
List of names
Online biographies produced by the colleges themselves:
Balliol College
Christ Church
Corpus Christi College
Exeter College (PDF)
Keble College
Magdalen College
Merton College
Pembroke College
Worcester College
Hertford College: see The Oxford Sausage, The Vacant Chair
St Catherine's Society: This plaque listing unattached students of the University of Oxford is now in the former St Cross Church (later St Catherine's College chapel, and now Balliol College Archives), and the Archivist has transcribed the names here
The photograph below is of a memorial unique to Oxford, placed in New College ante-chapel largely on the insistence of Warden Spooner, remembering three German students of the college who died in the First World War:
First World War memorials in Oxford workplaces
Lion Brewery, St Thomas's Street, Oxford
Brass plaque on outside wall of former brewery
List of names linked to CWGC pages
Oxford City Police
Two memorials, one at St Michael-at-the-Northgate Church and the other at St Aldate's Police Station
List of names linked to CWGC pages
Oxford Post Office
Moved to outside of the delivery manager's office, Royal Mail House, Oxpens Road, OX1 1XX
Royal Mail photograph of the memorial, with names listed
Oxford University Press
Free-standing memorial in the front quadrangle in Walton Street
List of names
Oxfordshire County Council staff
Plaque inside Old County Hall, New Road, Oxford
Brief biographies
St Sepulchre’s Cemetery, Walton Street
Biographies of those who died in the First World War and are remembered on their parents' graves
Second World War
Oxford Crematorium World War II
Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorial plaque
Plaque on an outside wall in crematorium garden
List of names
Three airmen and civilian killed at Linton Road in 1941
Memorial on the site at Wolfson College where the plane crashed
List of the four names, linked to CWGC pages
Corporation of Oxford (Oxford City Council) war memorial board
22 people who worked for the council: upstairs in the Town Hall
List of names, linked to CWGC pages
Right: An unusual war memorial: The sundial at Lincoln College
Oxford's newest war memorial
Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)
List of names only. Erected in St Clement's in 2017
Cowley Barracks
Information about Cowley Barracks
List of soldiers who died at Cowley Barracks between 1877 and 1892
and who have special graves in St James's churchyard in Cowley
Military hospitals in Oxford in the First World War
Botley War Cemetery
Oxford (Botley) Cemetery (left) is a war cemetery with about 740 war graves. Of these 156 are Commonwealth war graves from the First World War and 516 from the Second World War. In addition there are about 68 non-Commonwealth war graves, whose headstones have a distinctive shape
Fuller details about Botley War Cemetery
Right: Unveiling ceremony outside St Peter's College, Oxford on 9 August 2016 of a paving stone celebrating the first of the two First World War Victoria Crosses awarded to Noel Chavasse
Some other war memorials in villages near Oxford
Sunningwell Church (plaque inside church, with biographies)
Wootton Church, formerly Berkshire (free-standing war memorial with names listed, with biographies)
Wheatley (free-standing war memorial, list of names only)
Links to other Oxfordshire sites
- Roll of Honour: Oxfordshire Memorials outside Oxford (with brief biographical details) include: Alvescot | Ardley & Fewcott | Benson | Burford | Chipping Norton | Deddington | Finmere | Harpsden-Cum-Bolney | Henley on Thames | North Aston | Rotherfield Greys | Stoke Lyne | Thame | Witney | Woodstock
- Thame Remembers
- Woodstock Remembers