Forty years ago the historian A.L.Rowse wrote an evocative account of a walk he had just taken one July morning in the direction of Holywell. “Quiet, a blessed stillness, only Sunday sounds – it might be the Victorian age – as I turn in under the shadow of St Cross and glimpse, embowered in its shrubberies, the little sexton’s house and church school, in the Gothic of the 1860’s, something straight of Alice in Wonderland: latticed windows, overhanging eaves, porch buried under a rambler rose. But one would never have believed what treasures there are within – the whole of Victorian Oxford leaps to the eye fom headstone to headstone.”

It is true: Holywell cemetery is one of Oxford’s best kept secrets – a haven of tranquillity and recollection in a city where space and stillness are increasingly at a premium. Its stones contain a wealth of hidden stories.

The cemetery is cared for by the Friends of Holywell Cemetery, but they now need our help in order to clear and maintain the grounds. Please send an email to [email protected] if you would like to help. Please make sure that you wear appropriate clothing and footwear, and bring a pair of gardening gloves. If you are able to bring some secateurs or shears, even better. There will be some heavy clearing to do, but there will also be some delicate conservation work to do. With the benefit of a wooden spatula, you can help to remove the ivy clinging to the gravestones. Everyone can help in some way.