The archbishop is shown dressed in ecclesiastical robe, hat and ruff, reading from a book that lies in his lap. The statue is mounted on a rounded pedestal set into the corner of the building. John Whitgift, the son of a merchant, was educated at Cambridge University and went on to become Master of Trinity at the age of 37. He was an earnest advocate of the Reformation and was sheltered from Mary Tudor. After the accession of Elizabeth I he became Dean of Lincoln, Bishop of Worchester, and Archbishop of Canterbury in the space of 12 years. He was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1583 and 1604, and founded three schools and almshouses in Croydon in 1596. The manor of Croydon already belonged to the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time of the Domesday Book, and Croydon continued to be an important seat of the archbishop in the nineteenth century.