Holywell Cemetery

In the the middle of the nineteenth century the graveyards of the six central Oxford parishes became full. Merton made some land availlable which was behind St Cross Church in St Cross Road which is the northward continuation of Longwall Street. It is managed for wildlife and there are many birds, butterflies and small mammals living here. Muntjac deer visit regularly as do foxes. Pheasants nest here which is amazing in such an urban setting.


Our annual newsletter or membership form to join Friends of Holywell Cemetery (£5 a year) may be obtained by contacting keene@ouwg.org.uk or telephoning 01865 820522.

Extract from this year's newsletter:

Notes from a pathfinder

I was wondering the other day just how long it has been since my employment/enjoyment at Holywell started. Some of the people I knew then are now buried here. The magnolia in front of the schoolhouse now needs two crutches instead of one, the oak which was planted in the middle of area “C” was only just above my head now it is almost twenty feet high! Well I guess that means I have been around the cemetery awhile though not as long as some. I still think the biggest change to the overall feel of the place was the felling of the big cedar, which grew about one hundred meters on from the school house on the left looking east. Now that had been standing there much longer than I can ever hope to stand anywhere, so its demise created a big vacuum. It is where this tree once stood that the original path close to the wall began, the loss of that imposing giant whose arms spread out covering a huge area in green shade, seemed to make people (me included) forget about the path until it became overgrown and impassable. So I have declared open season on the ivy, holly, bramble and unwanted saplings which hide the old thoroughfare.
The advantage of rotational clearance is that you can rediscover old favourites and new wonders alike, old favourites becoming new wonders too. All varieties of grave stone ranging from monolithic to minimal succumb to the relentless march of tangled root and twig, but the ones with a prostrate nature no matter how wide and bulky disappear very quickly indeed. It was while clearing a particularly infested stone that I first noticed small patches of red paint, then a little more, like uncovering a faded fresco or an incomplete mosaic I became excited. Pretty flowers were carved around the chamfered edge like a daisy chain above the inscription. Not that ancient after all at only 95 yrs old but still good quality paint! The inscription on one of the pair of stones read (approx)”…..will be clothed in salvation …..covered in righteousness ..” , my first impression was that brambles and ivy were doing the clothing round here.
Further down the now slowly appearing path I am cutting back ivy the size of my leg and I come across a stash of tennis balls all bald, some fallen into two. Just over the wall here the old tennis courts used to be very busy, I remember balls flying over while I was mowing, that was some years ago. No more tennis now unless you like your lawn tennis extreme. I find other less interesting bits of rubbish which need throwing away, some of which comes from a natural shelter used over the years for a variety unsavoury uses, that is the nature of secluded places. Finally while picking up the debris caused by the destruction I have brought on this area, my gaze is drawn to something pressed into the ground only barely visible, and I dig out my favourite sunglasses lost last summer and in one piece, it makes it all worthwhile!When reaching the end of this path and lowered the height of the ivy so I can see over the wall I will be overlooking what was once an allotment. I never thought the cemetery would look better tended than that once productive patch!
Work this last year has progressed well, needless to say it’s not the sort of job that actually ever “gets done” . I think that the problem of fallen stones is now becoming a serious issue, though I would prefer to think the damage was all natural but sometimes………………
The volunteers have now been and added to my clearance, doing such a good job that my contribution doesn’t quite seem so impressive. Many thanks for your toil and sweat.
Yours, Lars

The full newsletter can be sent to you if you contact us. It includes an illustrated account entitled:
Grave markers, terracotta and the Grimsley family of monumental masons in St Giles, Oxford. by John Ashdown