Nina Morgan on a new work about gravestones around Oxford

Three years ago – and seemingly out of the blue – a bulging A4 envelope arrived on my desk. It came from Eric Robinson, a long retired professor of geology at University College London whom I’d got to know while I was working on a DPhil in geology at Oxford Though we hadn’t kept in touch, Eric had somehow heard that I’d abandoned a brief career in oil exploration geology to turn to freelance science writing, specialising, as I like to say, in generalising – that is writing about science and technology for general audiences. This is an approach dear to Eric’s heart.

He was well known for championing the concept of ‘urban geology’, the idea that examination of building stones and gravestones can provide a useful way introducing geology to the public at large.

The envelope was stuffed with handwritten notes, sketch maps and colour snapshots taken in Oxford’s cemeteries during the 1980s – along with the request to ‘Do something with this!’ A keen recycler myself, and never one to let a good idea go to waste, I persuaded Phil Powell, a fellow geologist and retired assistant curator of geology at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, to join me in what we expected to be a part-time effort to knock Eric’s raw material into shape.

The idea was to use Eric’s material as the basis for a little book of geological trails in various Oxford cemeteries – the sort of book we hoped would appeal to both amateur and professional geologists, as well as to the wide range of people who find graveyards fascinating places to study wildlife and plants and wonderful repositories for the study of local history and art.

Little did we know what we were getting into – or how much help we would need! We soon discovered that we needed to visit lots of cemeteries to find those with the widest range of rock types and geological features.

Then we had to select the graves which provided the best examples, map out the trails, interpret the geology, and research the people buried there. As the project grew, we found ourselves turning more and more to friends and colleagues ask for help.

The response was amazing. Other geologists offered to help interpret rocks we weren’t familiar with; the cartographer at the earth science department in Oxford produced our maps; Mike Tomlinson, a professional photographer, film maker and website designer volunteered to take the pictures; two amateur geologist friends offered to ‘field check’ our maps and descriptions; others helped to edit and proofread the text. A building stone specialist responded to our last-minute plea for photomicrographs, and cemetery friends groups, church wardens, local historians and librarians helped us interpret the local history.

When it came to publishing, we found there were even more hurdles to overcome. Unable to obtain grants or interest any publishers, we faced the daunting prospect of both self-publishing, and self-financing. Here again, we hit it lucky. A chance encounter while shopping in the No 2 South Parade Produce Store (www.2northparade.com) introduced us to an experienced publisher who provided us with introductions, advice and – most importantly – the enthusiasm and confidence in our project needed to see us through the production phase. The arrival of our first print run at the beginning of August was a real cause for celebration!

But the work doesn’t end there. We still need to sell enough copies to cover our costs, so our marketing efforts are moving into full swing.

We’ll be offering free gravestone geology walks at Holywell Cemetery at 2.30pm on Saturday, September 13 and at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery at 2.30 on Sunday, September 14, as part of the Oxford Open Doors weekend. And we’ve set up a website, gravestonegeology.uk