Join us in celebrating 500 years William Tyndale’s New Testament (TNT) translation with a brand new exhibition opening in June 2026, and a series of talks, tours and activities through the year.

William Tyndale was the first person to translate the New Testament into English directly from the original Greek, and the first to produce it on a scale that made it widely accessible. 

'The extra mile'

His work left a lasting imprint on the English language, shaping words and phrases still in use today, such as 'Salt of the Earth', 'Under the sun' and 'Go the extra mile'.

In 1526, Tyndale’s New Testament was printed in Europe and secretly smuggled into England in bales of cloth. At the time, translating the Bible into English without the Church’s permission was a crime, and many copies of this illegal New Testament were publicly burned in St Paul’s Churchyard. Today, St Paul’s Cathedral Library is home to one of just three surviving copies of Tyndale’s first edition.

This year, explore the extraordinary story behind one of the smallest – yet most disruptive – books in English history.