Warstone Lane Cemetery Catacombs (5981047303)

Warstone Lane Cemetery, (), also called Brookfields Cemetery, Church of England Cemetery, or Mint Cemetery (from the adjacent

Birmingham Mint The Birmingham Mint was a coining mint and metal-working company based in Birmingham, England. Formerly the world's largest privately-owned mint, the company produced coins for many foreign nations including France, Italy, China, and much of the ...

), is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

dating from 1847 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is one of two cemeteries in the city's

Jewellery Quarter The Jewellery Quarter is an area of central Birmingham, UK, in the north-western area of Birmingham City Centre, with a population of around 19,000 people in a area. The Jewellery Quarter is Europe's largest concentration of businesses invol ...

, in

Hockley Hockley is a large village and civil parish in Essex in the East of England located between Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea, or, more specifically, between Rayleigh and Rochford. It came to prominence during the coming of the railway in the 189 ...

(the other being

Key Hill Cemetery Key Hill Cemetery, ( OS grid reference SP059882), originally called Birmingham General Cemetery, is a cemetery in Hockley (the Jewellery Quarter), Birmingham, England. It opened in 1836 as a nondenominational cemetery (in practice nonconformi ...

). It is no longer open to new burials. A major feature is the two tiers of

catacombs Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...

, whose unhealthy vapours led to the Birmingham Cemeteries Act which required that non-interred coffins should be sealed with lead or pitch.

History

The foundation stone for the chapel (demolished 1954) was laid on 6 April 1847. The

blue brick Staffordshire blue brick is a strong type of construction brick, originally made in Staffordshire, England. The brick is made from the local red clay, Etruria marl, which when fired at a high temperature in a low-oxygen reducing atmosphere ta ...

gate lodge building, designed by J. R. Hamilton and J. M. Medland and built in 1847–8, survives, and is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The cemetery is itself Grade II on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. The cemetery was originally reserved for members of the established

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, whereas Key Hill (opened in 1836) was non-denominational, and was therefore favoured by

nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

s. On the night of 11 December 1940, all but the tower and classical west portico of St Thomas' Church, Bath Row, was destroyed by German bombs. The church was not 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 commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A comprehensive list of memorial inscriptions is being prepared by The Jewellery Quarter Research Group, to be published on its website. A campaign group, The Friends of Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemeteries, seeks to preserve and protect the cemetery.

Notable burials

* Warrulan (circa 1835-1855) – an Aboriginal Australian, brought to England in 1845 * Joseph Allday (1798-1861) – radical politician *Dr Pye Chavasse (1810–1879) – medical author *

Harry Gem Major Thomas Henry Gem (21 May 1819 – 4 November 1881), known as Harry Gem, was an English lawyer, soldier, writer and sportsman. Alongside his friend Augurio Perera, he is credited as a lawn tennis pioneer.Rowley, Andrew,Gem, Thomas Henry (1 ...

(1819–1881) – lawn tennis pioneer * John Postgate (1820–1881) – surgeon and food safety campaigner *

Clement Mansfield Ingleby Clement Mansfield Ingleby (29 October 1823 – 26 September 1886) was an English Shakespearian scholar. Early life and education Clement Ingleby was born at Edgbaston near Birmingham, the son of a lawyer. Poor health – he was not expected to ...

(1823–1886) – solicitor and poet * James Cooper, VC (1840–1889) – soldier *

John Baskerville John Baskerville (baptised 28 January 1707 – 8 January 1775) was an English businessman, in areas including japanning and papier-mâché, but he is best remembered as a printer and type designer. He was also responsible for inventing "wov ...

(1706–1775) – manufacturer, reinterred here in 1897: an atheist There are also buried in the cemetery 51 Commonwealth servicemen of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and 13 from

. A Screen Wall memorial, by a

Cross of Sacrifice The Cross of Sacrifice is a Commonwealth war memorial designed in 1918 by Sir Reginald Blomfield for the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). It is present in Commonwealth war cemeteries containing 40 or ...

, lists those whose graves are not marked by headstones.

Sources

* *

External links

*
The Jewellery Quarter Research Trust
- includes plan of graves at Warstone Lane
Friends of Key Hill Cemetery & Warstone Lane Cemetery
{{Cemeteries in England Anglican cemeteries in the United Kingdom Cemeteries in Birmingham, West Midlands Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in England Grade II listed buildings in the West Midlands (county)