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St Barnabas Church Erdington

My grandparents rest there......My late Mom/Dad were married there 1950......I was christened there Easter Sun 1951.......The Church and Erdington High St are my heritage.
So much history lost and those beautiful windows........
I now live at Phillip Island ..Victoria Aust.....Hopefully the restoration is going well...........
 
Hi Davpen: You certainly have some excellent historical links to St.Barnabas Church in Erdington High Street. I walked around the church on a visit to Erdington last November. I attended the church regularly when I was growing up in Erdington.

The work on rebuilding is progressing very slowly and my friend who lives in Wilton Road tells me that there are no workmen there for weeks lately. I found a very detailed PDF file which covers everything about Erdington Parish and the fire and the plans for the future. It's long but it's worth a read. There are many photos on the site of the fire damage (absoluteky heartbreaking) and renderings of how the church will look when it is rebuilt. I now understand why the rebuilding is taking so long.

Here is the site link; https://eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk...540.pdf&unique=384190&type=eplprod_DC_PLANAPP

The Erdington Ministry site used to have photos of all the stained glass windows that were in St. Barnabas Church. They have changed their web site and the pictures have gone. I am going to e-mail them and ask them where I can find them. Here are a couple of links
to the Church. One has a video on Erdington High Street. The other is an index of burials at St. Barnabas.

https://stbarnabaserdington.org.uk/index.php?cID=76

https://www.hunimex.com/warwick/mi/mi_brum_erdington.html
 
Re,St Barnabas..Erdington.
Jennyann...Thanks for the links..
Hope to visit in the next couple of years.......Also have a walk down South Rd where i was born....
Regards David
 
hi jennyann
many thanks for putting the links up i knew my grand parents were buryed there
i have yet to visit he grave and thanks for your listing as they are on the listing you have published
they are george jelf and mary ann jelf [ nee hughes ;
of tyburn rd coffee shop and i have down loaded it and printed the details
along with the birmingham mail obituary colum where all the old time workers of fort dunlop
whom gave there support to m grand mother and with there bearevments and put it in the mail
along with the druid society
many thanks jennyann best wishes Astonian ;;;
 
Hello Astonian
I do hope that you have some luck with your graves there. We had a massive upset some years ago when going to put some flowers on my Grandparents grave............ it was gone!!
The then vicar, who I hope never sleeps in comfort, had authorised graves to be removed from the front of the churchyard if they were not "claimed" by a specific date. As we live in Shropshire and really only went twice a year, we had no idea. Apparently the notice was on the church door. If you only went to the grave and not to the church, you would never know. Our graves were there in a line right near the front wall. There was my Moms dad who died age 22, his parents, his sister who died age 21 the week before her wedding, his brother who was a prisoner of war od the Japanese, and 3 babies. They were all new looking stones and very well cared for. The so called builders were there the day we went and were smashing the stones up around the back. The vicar was really horrid and my 96 year old Aunt was very upset and he couldnt have cared less. It was so awful. A lot of my mothers family were married there and it was in effect our family church. It hurts to this day.
Amanda
 
Hi Amanda
many thanks for your reply yes i am planning to go down there this week end to try and find the grave
and i am hoping thats its still there as i was told by pete whom is an old member on he site did give me
instructions on where to find there grave ,its on the back side of he church and he did say it was in abit of a mess but he managed to take a picture of the inscriptioned of the head stone even thou it was lying down in the hole
he told me it was by chance he came across it as he was searching for his grand parents as well
and he fell into and seen the writing on it and read the jelfs name and relized it was mine whom i had been searching for years ans sent me the pic; so thats how it came about me
going to st barnabys more or less straight away but i failed to find the excact grave
i did go to the church and i was completely shocked to what i had leart about the old vicar
and how he allowed the dozzers and wine o s to used the grave yard but one of the people
whom worked here did tell me he was attacked by some certain person there
a couple of these wineo,sdid to him so at the end of the day
and pardon my expression he got his come upence for what he created
but months later there was this big fire so i never went back some some of those people working there was smking in the church at the time i was there i also seen druggies behind the church injecting themselves
i looked for a copper but never found one these was young kids
but any way i am going with hope this timethat i will see it
and may be clean around it at some stage one of the vergers told me it only the council whom come and clean around certain war veterans grave and they leave the rest so i will have to wait and see if i do find it
and i hope its not what you have said demolished by builders
i will speak soon and let you know my report during the week
once again thanks for your reply and have a nice day best wishes Astonian ;;;;
 
I have just found out that the Ring of Bells in St Barnabas were given to the Church in memory of Mary Proctor Ryland who died in 1903 and was the daughter of my 3x gt aunt and uncle.
They were all buried at St Barnabas along with more of my Ryland ancestors.
Does anyone know what graves have been affected/ruined at this Church?

Thank you
 
Hi Pollpops: I think you would have to phone St. Barnabas Church and ask them if any of the Ryland graves will be, or have been affected, by the changes in the past and the forthcoming ones. Here is the index of burials. https://www.hunimex.com/warwick/mi/mi_brum_erdington.html. It's very interesting to know about the bells being a gift from a member of the Ryland family.
 
Thanks Jennyann, I have read that the bells were unharmed by the fire but I don't know if this is true - I hope it is. I will phone in the morning.
Thanks
Polly :)
 
Friday August 27th 2010

In a local paper, Sutton Coldfield news it states that,

It is going to remove some Gravestones to aid it`s Redevelopment.

they plan to remove 23 monuments from the graveyard.

They said their removal was necessary because they were Unvisited, Unsafe and Derelict.
 
Hi Dave:Thanks for posting about the planned grave removals,etc. at St. Barnabas. Mrs. T posted the article from the Sutton Coldfield News last week under Attention St. Barnabas. The Church is only giving relatives of the marked graves 28 days to respond regarding their plans.
Parts of the churchyard are in terrible condition and have been neglected for years. They have already moved some graves a few years ago.Dave you may have read Amanda's very sad story on this thread at #52. It looks as though this sort of situation will arise again since the message will not get out to all involved.
 
jennyann I covered the St Barnabas churchyard as a volunteer for The War Grave Photographic Project,
pics passed on to the CWGC, via TWGPP, as you say most of the area behind the church is not touched at all, the churchyard was the worst maintained that I had visited as a volunteer, a couple of CWGC directly behind the church had been damaged, reported with the pics (with probably beer cans, was a drinking area) Dave
 
Hi Dave: That is so sad to read about the state of the graveyard at St. Barnabas. It used to be well kept but then that was a long time ago. There are stories floating around about the drinking and drug taking that was going on across from the pub in Church Road. I'll say no more about that because I don't know enough about what went on. In the Architect's report which is on line, there is mention of the subsistence in parts of the churchyard especially on the left hand side as you walk down to the Moor End Lane gate. I expect it's so bad now that the graves have to be removed.

I was in contact with Chris Johns of the site Hellfire Corner a few years ago when he was trying to find a
memorial in Erdington to fallen soldiers. Have you met him at all? You do such great work Dave and give
freely of your time to many projects.

There are two reports on line regarding St. Barnabas. One is Archeological and contains some very interesting history of Erdington and the church itself. There is mention at the end of the report about the listed Buildings in the Erdington area both Grade II and "B" Grade. The 23 graves that will be affected
are mentioned and named. Also mentioned is the possibility of random unmarked graves which will have to be dealt with in the manner that is set down for such situations. https://eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk...534.pdf&unique=384189&type=eplprod_DC_PLANAPP

The Architect's report with many photographs of the damage caused by the fire followed by the architect's renderings of the new plans for the church are included. https://eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk...540.pdf&unique=384190&type=eplprod_DC_PLANAPP

I came across the Birmingham Post's article about the removal of the graves in Gloucestershire Today so I assuming that several newspapers will carry this article hopefully to inform anyone with connections to
the persons interred in these graves as to what is proposed.
 
HI DAVE
Yes those stories are true about the vagabons and the beer cans and sleepimg bags
some years ago i went in search of a grand parents grave after being informed of a grave by one ofour experts
on the forum ; when i got there i could not find it so i approached one of the guys whom worked there
inside the church ; he was abit older than me and he wa smoking inside the church
which i thought it was disgusting ;any way he was teling me around the sixtys there was a vicar
whom ran it whom condoned these guys to come into the church yard and spend there time there allowing them to drink and sleep in there i do not know whom the vicar was but i beleive it was in the evening mail around the time in the sixtys and apparentenly this vicar whom befriended these type people
was set upom by one of tese such people whom he befriended him and this guy robbed the vicar at the same time i do not know whether this guy was ever caught but the vicar at the time had left the church long since then
my last visit was there at st barnies was four years ago when this guy told me of the story and he said it was well published in the evening mail about the vicar and the congration was complaing about these people
but this vicar whom ever he was is to blame for this happening to the church
for condoning and inviting them to sleep and drink there cas in the church entrance and grounds
as i mentioned i did come across a couple of sleeping bags down the back of some of the head stones myself
i also witnessed with my own eyes inthe day time of drug takers injecting themselves
these was young kids and the ironic thing was there was an elder personwith these two young lads whom was standing looking out for them whilst they inject themselves
i tried to find a copper but know one around and i thought its abit of the waste of time to get this guy whom was smoking arond the place i did mention abit about this on our forum about four years ago
have a nice day guys best wishes astonion ;;
 
I was in contact with Chris Johns of the site Hellfire Corner a few years ago when he was trying to find a
memorial in Erdington to fallen soldiers. Have you met him at all? You do such great work Dave and give
freely of your time to many projects.

jennyann no sorry never met Chris, was the memorial in the churchyard,


Astonian while there at the time, there was also evidence of people sleeping under the tree on the left Dave
 
St. Barnabas church and grave yard today Monday 30th. It's left overgrow on one side of the path and kept reasonably tidy on the other side. The sight of dozens of Cider bottles and cans everywhere is very sad:(
 
HiAstonian: Thanks for the info re the Vicar who allowed the drinking and drug taking types to invade the churchyard. I had heard the stories but wasn't sure about quite what went on. I can see these people going into the churchyard since the church is right in the hub of Erdington High Street and a good place to hide. I don't understand why the churchyard has been neglected so much and all the bottles and rubbish removed. There must be drug needles hidden around as well. I am hopeful that when the five million pound rebuild
is finished that the churchyard is kept in good shape. Dave, I can't remember whether we found a memorial for the soldiers at St. Barnabas. I don't think so. Chris mentioned the grave of the soldier Mr. Harris. I watched several parades over the years on Armistice Sunday along the High Street but can't recall a Cenotaph as such in the area.

Thanks for the photos Frothy. In one of those reports it mentions the type of stone that one of the original architects used. The stone has attracted a lot of grime over the years. I wonder if the church will be cleaned. It's a shame to see the Lynch Gate fence
in a shambles and last time I was there in the Autumn last year part of the wall in Church Road had been knocked down. In the time since the fire, which is nearly three years, the weeds close to the main entrance have grown and grown.
 
jennyann said:
HiAstonian: Thanks for the info re the Vicar who allowed the drinking and drug taking types to invade the churchyard. I had heard the stories but wasn't sure about quite what went on. I can see these people going into the churchyard since the church is right in the hub of Erdington High Street and a good place to hide. I don't understand why the churchyard has been neglected so much and all the bottles and rubbish removed. There must be drug needles hidden around as well. I am hopeful that when the five million pound rebuild
is finished that the churchyard is kept in good shape. Dave, I can't remember whether we found a memorial for the soldiers at St. Barnabas. I don't think so. Chris mentioned the grave of the soldier Mr. Harris. I watched several parades over the years on Armistice Sunday along the High Street but can't recall a Cenotaph as such in the area.

Thanks for the photos Frothy. In one of those reports it mentions the type of stone that one of the original architects used. The stone has attracted a lot of grime over the years. I wonder if the church will be cleaned. It's a shame to see the Lynch Gate fence
in a shambles and last time I was there in the Autumn last year part of the wall in Church Road had been knocked down. In the time since the fire, which is nearly three years, the weeds close to the main entrance have grown and grown.
Click to expand...


jennyann if the Mr Harris (Soldier ?) is Harris JW on my list is a Sergeant(pilot) have pic Dave
 
Posted these before but will fit here again,


March 2007, Military Cadets, volunteered to clean part of the churchyard behind the church,

they uncovered the path, not seen for a long time
 
Dave M said:
Posted these before but will fit here again,


March 2007, Military Cadets, volunteered to clean part of the churchyard behind the church,

they uncovered the path, not seen for a long time
Click to expand...



I think that path as disappeared again:(
 
Good for those guys doing all that work....a formidable task indeed. If it weren't for the grave stones sticking up through the grass in that one photo it would look like a fallow field of farmland which it once was. Just like gardens you have to keep at it tidying them up or nature will take over. When you came down the path from the church to the Moor End Lane gate graves just lined up the whole way.Looks like a lot of them have gone. Where? I wonder. Where the steps are at the Moor End Lane end is where the compost heap was for the discarded flowers. Thanks for posting them Dave and Frothy. Definitely a good news/bad news situation.

Dave, I have a feeling that Mr.Harris was the only forces man from WW2? who was buried there. Be great to post the picture of his grave on the forum. Thanks.
 
Dave M said:
I was in contact with Chris Johns of the site Hellfire Corner a few years ago when he was trying to find a
memorial in Erdington to fallen soldiers. Dave
Click to expand...

I did some research into such a memorial after I saw Ian Hislop's series 'Not Forgotten'. and there is and never has been, to my knowledge a memorial in Erdington.
 
Hi Frothy: What does this memorial look like? Is it a wall plaque? Today I remembered my contact with Chris John(I had added an s to his surname which is incorrect). In 2002 I came across this report when I was wondering if there was a war memorial in Erdington. i contacted Chris and he said he hadn't been able to find a public War Memorial in Erdington.
It is an extensive report about the graves of soldiers, sailors and airmen who died in the two World Wars and are buried in St. Barnabas' churchyard. There are photos of some of the graves in this report. You can find it here: https://www.hellfire-corner.demon.co.uk/erdington.htm
I also found out that there is a private Memorial in Erdington located in the British Gas Club garden at Woodacre Road. This comes from a very interesting book which part of it is on line called "
 
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