Have you noticed the quaint structure before us? This is the Osney Cemetery Lychgate. It marks the entrance to a place of rest. A place established because Oxford’s churchyards could no longer accommodate the growing number of departed.
Osney Cemetery itself came into being in 1848. Holywell Cemetery and St Sepulchre’s Cemetery were also established that year. All three cemeteries addressed the issue of overcrowded churchyards in central Oxford. Imagine the city’s churches overflowing with burials. This led to the creation of dedicated spaces outside the immediate city center. By 1855 burials were forbidden at Oxford city churches. Only existing vaults could be used.
Osney Cemetery served several parishes. St Aldate’s, St Ebbe’s, St Peter-le-Bailey, and St Thomas all used this space. In 1845 Holy Trinity parish was taken out of St Ebbe’s parish. They too were served by Osney Cemetery. Later in 1872 the dead of St Frideswide were also buried here. Its parish had been taken out of that of St Thomas. Each church had its own designated area within the cemetery. Parish registers meticulously recorded each burial. It was as if the interments had occurred in their own churchyard.
Even Christ Church eventually secured a portion. Though initially exempt it was given space in the St Thomas’s section. It was called Christ Church portion.
The Osney Cemetery Lychgate stands as a symbolic threshold. It is a transition point between the world of the living and the realm of the departed.
Osney Cemetery is the final resting place for soldiers. Twenty-six Commonwealth war graves from the First World War are here. One British soldier killed in the Second World War is also interred here.
Notable figures rest in Osney Cemetery. Charles Bigg a Church of England clergyman and theologian is buried here. William Bright an English ecclesiastical historian also lies here. Charles Abel Heurtley an English theologian rests here. Kenneth Escott Kirk Bishop of Oxford is also interred in Osney Cemetery.
Osney Cemetery no longer accepts new burials. But it remains a large green space in central Oxford. In 2006 there was a proposal to plant more native trees in the area. This would enhance the cemetery’s natural beauty.