Warstone Lane Cemetery
Warstone Lane Cemetery, (grid reference SP059877), also called Brookfields Cemetery, Church of England Cemetery, or Mint Cemetery, is a cemetery dating from 1847 in Birmingham, England. It is one of two cemeteries located in the city's Jewellery Quarter, in Hockley (the other being Key Hill Cemetery). It is no longer available for new burials.
A major feature is the two tiers of catacombs, whose unhealthy vapours led to the Birmingham Cemeteries Act which required that non-interred coffins should be sealed with lead or pitch.
The foundation stone for the chapel (demolished 1954) was laid on 6 April 1847. The blue brick lodge gate (Hamilton & Medland 1848) building survives[1] and is grade II listed. The cemetery is itself grade II on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.
On the night of 11 December 1940, all but the fine tower and classical west portico of St Thomas' Church, Bath Row, was destroyed by German bombs. The church was never rebuilt. The grounds were laid out for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 when the gravestones were removed and the dead reinterred at Warstone Lane Cemetery. The gardens were re-designed as the St. Thomas's Peace Garden in 1995 in commermoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II
A comprehensive list of memorial inscriptions is being prepared by The Jewellery Quarter Research Group (September 2011). This will shortly be available on their web-site JQRG.ORG.
A campaign group is working to preserve and protect the cemetery - The Friends of Key Hill & Warstone Lane Cemeteries.
Notable people buried there include:
- John Baskerville
- James Cooper VC
- Dr Pye Chavasse - medical author
- John Postgate - food safety campaigner
- Clement Ingleby - Solicitor & Poet
- Joseph Allday - Radical Politician
- Harry Gem - Lawn Tennis pioneer
- Thomas Scarrott born 1786 St Phillips Parish Birmingham - died 1861 Birmingham - Fought At The Battle of Waterloo with Richard Drewes Company . Section F Grave Number 406
There are also buried in the cemetery 51 Commonwealth servicemen of World War I and 13 from World War II. A Screen Wall memorial, by a Cross of Sacrifice, lists those whose graves are not marked by headstones.[2]
Sources
- ↑ Pevsner Architectural Guides - Birmingham, Andy Foster, 2005, ISBN 0-300-10731-5
- ↑ CWGC Cemetery report.
- The Jewellery Quarter - History and Guide, Marie Elizabeth Haddleton, ISBN 0-9513108-0-1
- Images of England - photograph and details from listed building text
External links
- The Jewellery Quarter Research Group
- The Jewellery Quarter Birmingham
- Birmingham City Council page
- The Friends of Key Hill & Warstone Lane Cemeteries
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Coordinates: 52°29′19″N 1°54′53″W / 52.4885°N 1.9148°W