[RichardG]

Originally Posted by Merry Kizzmas

A statue says nothing, we have other things that are even more easily accessible that tell of our past... they're called books

Yes I'm aware of the existence of books but I believe the number of people who seek out and read a history book on a specialist topic like this is probably small in comparison to the number of people who would visit a city like Oxford on a day out and stop to spend a minute reading the information board next to a statue. It's a little bit of extra knowledge for people who otherwise would never have heard about him, I don't think that's a bad thing.