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Dark history around Oxford

Follow the stops in order. Each is a documented story set at or near this spot.

Open the walking route in Maps See it on the Dark Atlas

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  1. The Empress Who Escaped Through The Snow

    Trapped in a besieged castle, England's rightful heir was lowered by rope into a snowstorm in white and walked to freedom.

  2. The Bishop's Candle That Lit The Reformation

    Burning at the stake beside a fellow bishop, he promised their deaths would light a candle that could never be put out.

  3. The Candle That Would Never Be Put Out

    Burned together for their faith, one died quickly while the other screamed in agony for nearly an hour.

  4. The Woman Who Woke Up In Her Own Coffin

    Hanged, sealed in a coffin, and delivered to anatomists with knives ready, she was found alive when they opened the lid.

  5. The Fires That Made Bloody Mary's Name

    Two of England's leading Protestant bishops were chained to a stake in Oxford and burned, while Archbishop Cranmer watched and awaited his own turn.

  6. The Unsettling Truth Behind Wonderland

    The whimsical book everyone loves was written by a man who photographed children, some of them nude, and whose family destroyed pages of his diary.

  7. The Bishop Who Burned His Own Hand First

    A scholar who had betrayed his faith to save his life recanted his recantation, then thrust the offending hand into the flames first.

Coordinates mark the place of each story, and some are approximate. Check opening times and access before you go.