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Park Street - Fazeley Street

dwilly

dwilly

master brummie
Anyone know anything of a burial ground on the corner of Park Street and Fazeley Street. Walked through it a few times years ago and have driven past it a number of times. Can't see any church nearby but the railway runs pretty close. Was there a church there that got taken out for the railway? Who would look after this land and who might care for the graves? Might have a wonder up there again and have a look round soon
 
The graveyard of St Martin's-in-the-Bull Ring was extremely full by the late 18th century and was extended. William Hutton wrote in 1783:

From the eminence upon which the High-street stands, proceeds a steep, and regular descent into Moor-street, Digbeth, down Spiceal-street, Lee's-lane, and Worcester-street. This descent is broken only by the church-yard; which, through a long course of internment, for ages, is augmented into a considerable hill, chiefly composed of the refuse of life. We may, therefore, safely remark, in this place, the dead are raised up. Nor shall we be surprised at the rapid growth of the hill, when we consider this little point of land was alone that hungry grave which devoured the whole inhabitants, during the long ages of existence, till the year 1715, when St. Philip's was opened. The curious observer will easily discover, the fabric has lost that symmetry which should ever attend architecture, by the growth of the soil about it, causing a low appearance in the building, so that instead of the church burying the dead, the dead would, in time, have buried the church.

St Martin's graveyard closed in 1848 when Park Street Burial Ground opened (except for burials in family graves which continued until 1915).
Park Street was certainly affected by the cutting of the railway here. I guess the disinterred were reinterred at Birmingham Cemetery in Witton which opened in 1860.

I'm not sure when the burial ground was landscaped as Park Street Gardens, but it was revamped in 2000.

The remaining internees are soon likely to be disturbed by the building of the new station for the high-speed rail link from London which is planned to cut through the site.
 
Hi Dwilly. I have attached a pic from streetview. I think its the one you mean.

Terry
 
Terry thanks for that there was also a Black & White one on the Forum a couple of years ago.:)
 
I have recently been reading about St Martins as my 4x gt grandparents were buried there. I found this information on Park Street burial ground and I thought you may find it interesting.


As the population of Birmingham grew the demand for burials at St Martin’s was relentless.
In 1807 2.5 acres of land in nearby Park Street was purchased to become a detached burial ground for St Martin’s.
The first burial on this land took place on 16th June 1810 for a man named John Sims. The burial was conducted by the Rev Edward Hill.
The Churchyard at St Martin’s was also extended in 1810 by purchasing land in Spiceal Street which backed on to St Martin’s churchyard (the churchyard had already been extended in 1781)
Because burial places close to the church were considered more prestigious the churchyard remained the preferred place of burial and after a time the Park Street burial ground was considered a very undesirable location only fit for the poor.
Parish records show that following the extension to the churchyard in 1810 between 300 and 800 burials took place per year but the records do not specify if they were buried in the churchyard or the overflow burial ground in Park Street.
In 1863 the number of burials dropped dramatically to single figures because of the opening of Witton Cemetery.
No date is given for the last burial in Park Street.
In 1873 it was decided that more open spaces were needed in Birmingham for recreation. The Corporation obtained an Act that allowed them to acquire neglected and overgrown burial grounds that were no longer used for interments and turn them into parks.
Under this Act Park Street Burial ground was transformed into Park Street Gardens and opened to the public in 1880.
Polly :)
 
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Just found this Polly what an interesting piece. I knew of the existance of the burial ground but didn't know the details thanks for posting that information.:)
 
so what is it now, a burial ground or a garden? Seem odd that graves etc still exist there, wonder why they didn't move them all to Witton or somewhere similar. Are there are still bodies etc in the graves!? Where were you Gt Grandparents buriedin St Martins or in Park Street burial ground?
 
Park Street Burial Ground.

This was an extension to St Martin's Churchayrd, and was opened in 1807. In 1846 a portion of it was purchased for £2,210.13.7d by the London and North Western Railway. The graveyard was closed in 1857. In 1873 all burials here ceased and six years later, the ground was laid out as a park. In 1894, 1,151 coffins were removed to Witton for reinterment.

I am not sure about the truth of only considered suitable for the poor, there were quite a few solicitors, etc, buried there, as can be seen from the few remaining headstones at Park Street.
 
I hope this is not off topic but i remember a Victorian Iron Fenced graveyard on the opposite side of the Rd in the 50-60s down by Masshouse Lane it may have been part of St Barts.but it could have only been for the wealthy as there were many expensive tombs I think it disappeared when they built Masshouse Circle and it now has Appartments on the site I have seen a photo of it many years ago in the B,ham Mail. Dek
 
Dek it was St Bartholomews burial ground. That was also cleared and remains reinterred at Witton. In my view, once you are buried, you should stay that way. Removal of tombs, for whatever reason, is not quite right - at least in my opinion.
 
My 2xGreatgrand father Richard Fowler was Buried at St Martins in 1845
How would i find out where he is now.
Thankyou
 
Well, St Martin's was closed in 1848, and when I was young in the 1950's I remember seeing some kind of burial ground still there. Not sure when they were moved exactly, but 1964 seems to be around the right time. More than likely they are at Witton, but having seen some entries where graves have been re-interred, I can tell you that they are not re-interred one by one. After almost 100 years there would more than likely be nothing left to speak of (depending on the ground conditions, that is), and they would be placed in one grave and the entry in the register would read something like 'various remains from St Martin's churchyard'. I doubt whether there is a specific place you could go and be sure he is there. I am sorry, this is not what you wanted to hear, I am sure, but unfortunately, that is the way it is. As I said before, once buried, I believe people should be left where they are and not interfered with. Unfortunately, 'progress' stands in the way.
 
Why would they leave some in place, are they purely decorative, so to speak, just to remind us that it was once a graveyard, having said that how would you decide which ones to leave behind?


Why is it you never really find answers just more questions!
 
This was on Wikimapia Park Street Gardens

This park has a lot of history. It dates back to an old game area used by royalty. Deer was hunted in this vast park by the monarchy however the land was systematically sold to landowners which was developed expanding the city.

In Victorian times this park would be twice as big and be connected to the church yard of St Bartholomew Church which was demolished at the creation of Masshouse Circus in the 1960s. Some of the burial stones from graves and tombs remain in the park linking it to its religious past.
Click to expand...
 
Wikimapia seems to link the park to St Bartholomew Church and yet the earlier posts link it to St Martin, could the two churches have shared the ground?

Many thanks ellbrown for pictures taken
 
No problem. Several months back, when walking down Park Street saw people taking photos of the stones.

It looked nice with leaves all over the ground.

Nothing much in Pevsner Architectural Guides: Birmingham other than

former St Martin's extension churchyard
Click to expand...
 
Dwilly, I think the gravestones were left to remind people of the fact that this was once church ground. St Martins and St Bartholomew were very near, but not on the same ground. I do know that the earliest St Bartholomew records are in the St Martin Record Books, then later they had their own. I see you live in Birmingham - St Bartholomew was on the site of the old Masshouse Car Park, St Martin's as you know is in the Bull Ring, now sadly surrounded by shops which prevent you from seeing it properly - in my view anyway.

St Bartholomew may have been built as St Martin got too crowded, I am not sure. I feel it is a pity that a lovely Georgian church like St Bartholomew should have been demolished. Bring back Georgian Birmingham, I say!!
 
Thanks everyone for replies, I have sent a general enquiry to Birmingham City Council to see if they can shed any light on things. Does anyone know of any other "parks" like this around Birmingham that once were graveyards which still contain gravestone and tombs?
 
What exactly are you asking the Council to clarify, and what department? I know a lot of Bereavement Services staff and can tell you that most of them know very little about any other cemetery apart from their own. What I have written earlier is from a book on burial grounds, the only one that has been published. It was written by a man who used to work in the library.
 
just asking if the graves/tombs are still occupied, which i suspect they aren't, and how they decided which graves to leave behind. It went to a general enquiries email address as i couldn't see which area the park came under. The council site list a lot of parks in Birmingham and which area they come under but not the one on Park Street. Also enquired if this park was to become part of the Eastside development. It still seem odd thing to do to leave the graves and tomb there but move bodies and most of the other burials. If its now a park it wont be under the Bereavment Services control, and I can't seem to find a parks department, seems to be lumped under leisure and tourism these days. I don't suspect i'll get an answer but you never know. I can see why we should be reminded it once was a burial site but anyone looking for individuals how do they know where to look if some have moved and some haven't.
 
The coffins were removed says the book, so I imagine all were. Perhaps some headstones were left behind just to show that it was a sacred burial ground - I doubt if the bodies are in those particular graves. Perhaps those particular families requested that their headstones stay behind. The park might come under Bereavement Services, but it may come under parks. You will probably find that the staff simply do not know. When staff change, a heck of a lot of important information about the past just does not get passed on. I have recently had experience of this with Yardley, with an amazingly surprising and excellent outcome. Somehow I think it will stay a park under the Eastside development, I don't know for certain, but there does need to be some green spaces. I don't find it odd that some headstones have been left behind, possibly because the same has happened at St Thomas. All Saint's too was taken over by the Parks Department, but in that one I do not know if they removed bodies. It is easy to think of them as bodies, but after 100 years, there will be almost nothing left, just the coffin furniture probably, depending on how dry the ground is. if it is very dry, there will be nothing left, but if the ground is clay soil or boggy, the bodies will have been preserved. I seem to remember that at St Martin, whch must be dry ground, they found very old remains when they did the new Bull Ring. I know the staff at Witton, so I will ask what is in the register for Park Street, but it will take a while, so please bear with me. I can imagine your frustration, however, I have found there is not an answer to everything, which is a shame.
 
Thanks Shortie, its forums like this that seems to trys capture some of that lost/forgotten information, as things move on the old uns often get pushed aside and the knowledge they have seems old and of no use, then one day you ask a question of find something you know nothing about then you realise those old uns weren't as stupid as you once thought.

Thanks for asking around, I realise we may never find the answers to all our questions and i know the more answers you get the more questions you ask. These things must have been recorded somewhere its just finding the right place to look or the right person to ask.
 
A few photos i took around 6 weeks back ( on a Sunday ) unfortunately the seat benches are very often occupied by down and outs and drunks. Max
 
Hi,

I had a book bought for me on St Martin's Church and it was all about the graves it was a book I am sure it was called St Martin's uncovered is this the same church you are discussing in this thread the one in the Bull ring it is a really interesting book it even names some of the people that are buried there also what type of things that they had buried with them.

Paula
 
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