• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Aston Parish Church Graves

G G Jean

G G Jean

Brummy Wench.
Would I be able to find out the year burial sites were removed to make way for houses and the names of families who'se remains were removed. Some of my family were I believe. I did write to the church twice with a self stamped addressed envelope enclosed. Would be most grateful. Jean.
 
HI GEE GEE
Are You Telling Us That The Grave Yard Does Not Surround The Church Any more
If Thats A Case , Then Its A Total Disgrace .I Was Christaned There And Sang In The Church Choir For Years , Along With My Two Older Brothers And My Oldest Brothers Friend For 2/6 Pence Aweek It Was An Actual Half Crown ,And For The Practiceing In The Week Five Shiling ,TWO hALF cROWNS
 
Astonian they were the graves at the back of the top of Holte road. I have never been able to bring myself to go back as I'm sure my dads family were some of them. If you go past you will find several new houses where some memorials used to be. The horrible thing is I met up with someone who was working on the site of the Button Oak pub and told me some things the workmen did at the churchyard. He was horrified when I said that could be my nan grandad or aunt your talking about. I can't post it on hear but there were snipits in the local newspaper. I would just like to know even now if the people in my wonderful photo's were some of these for certain. I know at the time I thought it desecration but my mom and aunt were upset and i didn't want to make things any worse. Jean.
 
HI JEAN,
I AM TOTALLY Horrifyed To Hear This ,And i Can Imagine How And YOU And Your Parents Must Have fELT When We Was At The Church As Choir Boys After Servive ,We Would Walk Around The Grounds And Tidy Up Any Messy Graves Which We Thoght Was Needed
To Be Cleaned UP Our Choir Mistress Was A Mrs Rice FromAlbert Rd AstonShe Was An ELDERLY Spinster With Her Sister And a Close Friends With Captain Roberts OF The 1
 
Do you remember two sisters one called Winnie Weaver and the other I knew only as miss Weaver our Sunday school teacher. They were there every Sunday morning. We used to go to Cannon Walmans garden party's and fun days and attended the local youth club in Aston Hall road till it got wrecked by the gang of the day. Nothing changes does it?. by. Jean.
 
Hi Jean:) Astonian:) Aston Parish Church,,front & immediate surrounds are still untouched (as should be :) )
The view looking from Aston Park across the road is same as always, the Graveyards are still the same,,
However the left & rear (towards Holte Rd as Jean rightly said) has been "improved" ? new small service road & houses,
Ickneild B,ham Choir there recently, fund raising for Church etc, so i know its still Ok there.
Cheers JohnY:cool:
 
Last edited:
John the improvements you talk about [houses] is where several graves were removed. My mom amd aunt lived in Holte road at the time and I used to pass when they were doing the work. The tomb stones were left standing up and tarpaulin covered where they were working. I don't know how many were removed. Jean.
 
Jean that's so upsetting for you, I didn't know anything about it.
If you do want to go there I will certainly come with you, we could pop in the New Holte after and have a good natter
 
I'm totally gobsmacked , I did'nt realise that any graves had been moved.I was christened there by The Reverend Henry McGowan, and my parents were married there at the start of WW11, when I was quite young, I was allowed to watch the bellringers, I am really sorry to hear your story Jean.
 
It happened when aunt Floss was still alive and there was a public meeting about it at the time. I'm glad dad wasn't alive then time they were his relatives. If uncle George was one of them he had not been dead the fifty years required so I have been informed. Thanks for the offer Pat but I don't go down that end any more since mom died. Will meet up somewhere else though. Oh Trevor wants to meet up after the bank holiday. Jean.
 
Jean,

Any idea of just where these were graves when moved?

My dad, who was an electrician, used to carry out maintenance at Aston Church in his spare time in the 1960's and 1970's. Sometime in (I think) the 1970's a new church house was built close to the west end of the church, and the digging of its foundations necessitated the removal of some graves. Holte Road is to the west of the church, and I wonder if the moving of your family graves had anything to do with the new church house.

Interestingly enough, as the graves were uncovered, most of them were 19th century, but as the excavators got lower, they uncovered layers of graves going all the way back to pre-Conquest times. I understand that the Archaeology Department of Birmingham University was called in to carry out an investigation.

The law states that if anyone's grave is moved, the remains shall be re-buried in consecrated ground with all due respect and Christian ceremony, and that the site of the new grave, and the name of its occupant, be marked and recorded. Whether this applies to ancient, unmarked, graves, I don't know.

If you didn't receive a reply to your letter, Jean, then I'd make a personal visit to the church house - sorry, I don't know the name of the current incumbent, but I'm sure that your visit will be well-received by him/her.

Big Gee
 
I believe that the gravestones are alongside the main pathway to the church, placed there when the work was completed. It must have been late 1970s or 80s
 
Bilsat that is about right. The new church house is further back I took mom there to a meeting. My family were buried just off the first path. I used to lay flowers when i was a child and walked down a little winding path which brought you to almost the gardens at the top of the then Holte road. Those graves were not the very old ones as uncle George was only buried in 1950. How would I find out if my relatives are still ther or were some of the ones removed. I have also been informed that any remains should be reburied elsewhere as it is a requirement of the home office. As I said peviously I met someone who was talking about when he took part in this work and joked about the things they did which I can't go into. When I said they may have been my dad relatives he went very red. My son told him to leae it there. I did speak to him at a later date. I think it's since I have been posting their photo's on this lovely forum that it has brought it all back. If anyone does pass by would you care to look for a name of Lyndon on those headstones. My son said he would try and find out for my piece of mind. I think this has helped get it off my chest. Jean.
 
This has happened before a whole strip of graves were removed from Key Hill Cemetery to build the Metro!
 
Hi Folks,
I was also christened in Aston Parish Church back in 1953. Fortunatly my family were not affected by the moving of graves as only one or two members of my family were buried there, most being in the massive Witton Cemetry. I still look at these every time I go past on the M6, Witton to the left and Aston Church to the right (going south), it seems that half of my life can be seen from that one spot!:cry:
 
Some pictures of Aston parish church taken today in the snow.:)
 
100_2318_edit.jpg
100_2323__edit.jpg
So our time in Aston was not completely wasted today we went for a walk around St Peters and St Pauls. I must admit this also saddened me as so many heastones were just sunk in the ground lining the path.:(
 
Last edited by a moderator:
100_2321_edit.jpg
100_2320_edit.jpg
Last one. It's a shame the church wasn't open I would have loved to have a look inside.:)

100_2319_edit.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Wendy thanks for your time taking those photo's, I hope the residents made you more welcome than those at Aston Hall [park]. I looked through the link you posted earlier but there were no Lyndon names on there. Jean.
 
Hi Jean I couldn't believe how many headstones there were. I was looking for an Annie Morris my gt grans sister who is buried there. I never saw any Lyndons but didn't look at all of the headstones there were so many!
 
#15. Sorry Wendy I was referring to that thread where you put a link that I have read with interest. The Lyndon family graves were where those new houses now are. I remember years ago as a teenager I would walk my dog across the Serpentine ground or tip as we kids called it to meet my dad from work and one day there was a naked man standing by the rails inside the churchyard. I don't think they called it streaking then but I sure did and didn't look back. TTFN. Jean.
 
The photo's of St Peter and Pauls in the snow are lovely, Wendy. Thanks for posting them, the church has had a part in my and my ancestor's lives. Many of my great grandparents were married there, as we were and our two children were Christened there. It is a lovely old church, and what a pity it has to be locked to safeguard it. That saddens me. I think I would rather see a church bare of all its adornments and open for those who would like a little time alone.
 
wendy ; as a patron, and a long serving choir boyalong with my two older brothers
way back in the forties and fifties when miss rice was the choir mistress whom played the organ
i don,t think you would have really appreciated it seeing the condition inside now
it was really a beautiful church and clean and the windows was tremondously letting the sun shine
ito the church on a sunday morning ,it gave one a great spiritual feeling
a few years ago ,i thought to myself reflecting on ones life as 0ne does
i thought i would take myself to aston parish church for the morning service
but it was not to be . it had changed and it was only for lttle kiddies corner
they offered me doughnuts and tea they had built a tea ad coffe shop at the back on the entrace to the church and there was kids running and shouting in there i felt discusted to see what they had done to it
there was chicken wire frames hanging down all over the place
they asked me on my entrance whm are you and where from, i did explain to them that i was once par of the congrgation and a serving choir boy for the church along with my brothers for years
and with family connections and told them opf dyson hall connections to the church
they asked me to come back and have a chat and talk about the church and its history
and of course the congregation of the old aston people
but i felt discusted as to the inside of the church had deteriated and grubby it was
so i never went back i was christen there as well as being in the choir
so wendy thats why i say its not like it used to be [ fantastic ]
incidently we was payed five bob,for singing in the morning and the evening sercie at Aston parish church
in those days-- two half crowns ] and two and a kick at dyson hall park street ;
have a nice day best wishes astonian ;;;;
 
Hello Astonian I am sorry you were upset on your visit to Aston Church but this is the same with many churches on the edge of major cities. The congregation have moved away and the people who run the churches have to look at alternative uses just to keep the churches open. In a way they are suffering like the pubs so have to look at other ways of getting people in. So many of our churches like our pubs are being demolished. Christ Church in Sparkbrook was demolished last year this was where my grandparents were married. My husband was confirmed at Aston Parish church and has not been inside since. The problem is of our own making because we don't go. Religion is not as popular now. You only have to look how many are out shopping on Sunday's. I am not religious but I wish they had never opened shops on a Sunday it seems to have spoilt family life. I hope the church can keep going as it is a beautiful place maybe more volunteers to help clean them would help. Just my thoughts Wendy.
 
HI WENDY
Many thanks for your reply and i can go along on what you say about the commutity
dwingling in the area all my generations of our family and relatives all got christenend and marryed there as wel
i hope no one comes up with the idea of thinking of demolisghing it
because that great church holds alot of history for the city just like st phillips in the city
and along side the oratye on hagley rd edbaston three fine lovely churches
and also with aston parish church as history connected to the holte family going back in centeries
along with great stories of the place being connected to aston hall
which i have great memories and the stories when i was a young lad
i am of of course of a religionous faith ad a true christian
i do not knock any kind of people religions nor there faith , i think if i was right i personaly thought
at the time the congregation of a verysmallnumber of people whom was in attendants on that particular sunday morning at the aston parish church was of a new age gospel singers
but when i went into that church i felt very cold all over it was a strange feeling
and as i said the kids was running amock whilst the few grown ups was lauhing and jocking
amongest themselves drinking coffee they called it havin breakfast before the kids was to sit down
even today when i pass over the top on the motor way i always look down on the church
when i read on this forum about taking some of the grave yard for houses ;it dicussed me ,
some-body previously wrote about the naked man , i remember that incident when i was young
i remember alot of carrying ons around that cemetry yard
and i witness the old graggy witch with her long black straggle hair and her candle lying
across an old grave stone and this was witness by dozens of astonians in those days
we had the fire brigade out with there big search lights scouring the cemetry and along with the police
with dogs scouring the grounds and manual police but never found any one
and they used to dicuss the tunnel from the holtes house down through the grounds of the
park to the back of the back of the church .as there was a ltte outer building no bigger than about five foot tall
with a little old oak door which was never openend more donkeys years long before i was born
any way getting on track it would be crimminal if these planning departments decide to do away with it
best wishes ASTONIAN ;;;;
 
Astonian,

I agree with you absolutely. I was there a few years ago and the alterations seemed very amateurish and completely spoiled the whole place.

Old Boy
 
If you look at Aston now, the only things to remind people who knew it,are the church, Aston Hall, the Villa ground and a few odd buildings that managed to avoid the mad 'planners' of the 60s and 70s. Aston,along with Nechells, Saltley and Witton, hold wonderful memories for those who grew up there, it may have been rough in places, but there was a community spirit that existed, that was destroyed along with the destruction of the buildings. No doubt some from the 'posher' areas will disagree, but I am proud to come from Aston. As I've stated previously, I was christened at Aston parish and have fond memories of the church. Old Aston will only exist in the photographs and memories of those of us who lived there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top