Cemeteries
Key Hill
Key Hill was opened in 1836 as a general cemetery for burial to all creeds and denominations. Part of the site was still used for quarry casting sand, mostly for the jewellery industry up until the 1930s. Containing catacombs, it is a Grade II registered Historic Garden and influential figures buried range from the Chamberlain family to Alfred Bird, the inventor of eggless custard! The Cemetery is a green haven containing a wide variety of flora and fauna, including nineteen species of bird. Key Hill is actively supported by the Friends of Key Hill Cemetery.
Restoration of the Key Hill Cemetery Gates & Piers
July 2009 saw the unveiling of the restored gates and gate piers to Key Hill Cemetery main entrance off Icknield Street, Hockley. The repairs were grant aided by English Heritage together with generous funding from the Big City Plan and Section 106 money provided by local developers. The project was initiated and coordinated by the Conservation Team, Planning and Regeneration.
The stonework was in a very poor state of repair due to severe erosion of the sandstone and previous poor quality repairs. The original brick core of the piers has been reconstructed and new Corsehil facing stone used to the plinth, shaft and architrave. The frieze, cornice and embedded ball finial have been conservatively repaired with an interpretation of the snake of life recreated to one of the frieze faces. The cast iron gates had suffered from vandalism and one gate had been stolen. The remaining gate has been repaired and a new gate recreated to match.
These works have been successful in reinstating the grandeur and importance of the entrance and to reverse the years of decay.
An offer has been received from English Heritage for further funding to refurbish the next phase of the Key Hill Cemetery Gates and Piers, together with a detailed Conservation Plan to look at other aspects including pathways. It is hoped that a further offer will be forthcoming from English Heritage for Warstone lane and it is therefore proposed to make a Heritage Lottery Fund bid to provide a comprehensive package of measures for both Cemeteries.
Warstone Lane
Warstone Lane was opened in 1848 as a burial ground for members of the Anglican Church. It was designed in Gothic style and its catacombs are well presented. Famous people buried in this Grade II registered Historic Garden range from John Baskerville, the printer, through to Major Harry Gem, the founder of Lawn Tennis.
Burial Records for Key Hill Cemetery can be accessed at the Jewellery Quarter Information Centre, Vyse Street. For more information telephone 0121 604 7700.
A full survey is currently being undertaken of all the memorials and their inscriptions but any particular query about Cemetery records for Warstone Lane and Key Hill Cemeteries should be addressed to: -
Handsworth Cemetery
Oxhill Road
Handsworth
Birmingham
B21 8JT
Tel: 0121 554 0096
Fax: 0121 515 1522
Email: handsworthcem@birmingham.gov.uk
For more information please visit www.birmingham.gov.uk/cemeteries
The Friends of Key Hill Cemetery are currently undertaking a project to record all the existing memorial inscriptions and to make the information available to researchers and others with an interest. For example, some members of both the Chamberlain and Tolkien families are buried in Key Hill. This project is 50% complete and it is ultimately planned to publish a comprehensive record of each memorial inscription, some notes on the condition of the plots and a photograph. This will lead to other work such as a full recording of research about all the war casualties remembered at Key Hill. It also intended to analyse the information recorded on memorials to see what that may tell us about social conditions in Birmingham’s early history.
If you would like more information contact:
Dick Empson, Chairman
Friends of Key Hill Cemetery.
37 Quayside, Hockley, Birmingham B18 5SQ
Email: dick.empson@btinternet.com.
Tel: 0121-551 2109
Website www.friendsofkeyhillcemetery.co.uk
