According to unverified tradition, Saint Birinus founded a small chapel on the site of Reading Minster in the 7th century.

[2] In 1121, King Henry I founded Reading Abbey which grew to become one of the most important religious and political centres of England.

For the following 400 years the Abbey was the centre of ecclesiastical power in the town, and the Abbot also held the post of Rector of St Mary's.

[3] The main body of the church dates from the late 11th Century, however in 1539, the Abbey was dissolved on the orders of King Henry VIII.

In the Reformation that followed, St Mary's church was stripped of its altar, statues and stained glass, and by 1550 was in need of extensive repair.

The organ was largely neglected throughout the 20th century, leaving pipes corroded, the bellows damaged and the soundboards warped.

The monument is constructed in a 15th-century style in Portland stone, and has a tapering octagonal shaft capped by a cross.

It has been suggested that it was constructed in reaction to the secular design of the nearby Jubilee Drinking Fountain that also celebrates the same anniversary and is located only a few feet away in the centre of St Mary's Butts.