Oxford will host members and supporters of the Prayer Book Society this Thursday as they mark the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer.

Archbishop Cranmer, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward I and briefly under Catholic Mary I, compiled the first two editions of the Book of Common Prayer.

He also played a key role in the annulment of King Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, a major factor in the Church of England's split from the Catholic Church.

Under Mary I's orders, Cranmer was burnt at the stake in Oxford on March 21, 1556.

Supporters will attend a service of Choral Mattins at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, before proceeding to Broad Street where Cranmer met his end for a wreath-laying on the Martyrs’ Memorial.

Bradley Smith, chairman of the Prayer Book Society, said: "Thomas Cranmer was one of the leading figures of the English Reformation.

"Scholar, theologian, and pioneer of ecclesiastical reform, he lived and died with remarkable courage.

"Cranmer's abiding legacy is the Book of Common Prayer, of which he was the architect.

"The Prayer Book Society exists to celebrate Cranmer's spiritual and literary masterpiece, and to promote its continued use in public worship and private prayer today.

"In our public Commemorations we honour the memory of Cranmer's heroic life and witness, and give thanks for his timeless liturgy."