Holywell Cemetery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Holywell Cemetery is next to St Cross Church in Oxford, England. The cemetery is behind the church in St Cross Road, north of Longwall Street.
In the mid 19th century, the graveyards of the six parishes in central Oxford became full, so Merton College made some of its land available to form the cemetery in 1847. It is now a wildlife refuge with many birds (including Pheasants that nest there) and butterflies, as well as small and larger mammals, including Muntjac deer and foxes. It is a wonderful and quiet rural corner in urbanized central Oxford.
A number of well-known people are buried in the cemetery, including:
- Henry Wentworth Acland, physician and educator
- James Blish, the American expatriate author
- Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows
- Walter Pater, essayist and critic
- Lord Redcliffe-Maud, civil servant and Master of University College, Oxford
- John Stainer, composer
- Kenneth Tynan, theatre critic and author
- Charles Williams, novelist and poet
A Friends of Holywell Cemetery has been established to raise funds and manage the cemetery.
