Lawrence Saunders (1519??555) was an English Protestant martyr whose story is recorded in Foxes Book of Martyrs. Saunders was a Protestant minister who preached openly during the Catholic reign of Queen Mary. After a trial in which he defended his beliefs; he was sent to Coventry where he was burned at the stake. There had been a number of executions of local people for their religious beliefs here in previous years; and Saunders; not a local man; was burnt here as a further example to local Protestants.