SP0892 : First World War Memorial, Witton Cemetery
taken 12 years ago, near to Perry Barr, Birmingham, England
Witton, or Birmingham City Cemetery, was the first public cemetery to be laid out by the Corporation of Birmingham. As in other towns and cities by the early nineteenth century, churchyards were overcrowded and private cemetery companies were becoming established. Birmingham’s Burial Board (the Town Council) acquired 105 acres (40 hectares) at Witton, an elevated site overlooking the valley of the River Tame, in 1859. The layout and implementation were largely by Richard Ashwell, superintendent of London Road Cemetery, Coventry SP3478; buildings, boundary walls etc were by R.Clarke of Nottingham; the builder was C.Wright of Nottingham. Following consecration by the Bishop of Worcester the cemetery was opened for burials on 28 May 1863. A small parcel of land at the north corner was sold to the Jewish congregation in 1868 for their exclusive use as a burial ground.
The surviving Anglican chapel of [?local] Hampstead stone was designed by R.Clarke. It was originally complemented by a non-conformist chapel of similar form but this and the Roman Catholic chapel were demolished around 1980. The nursery was abandoned and cleared. A new circular cemetery office was constructed in 2000 immediately south of the site of the RC chapel. At points along the ridge – the main north-south axis of the cemetery – is a series of war memorials, as well as a group of Commonwealth War Graves and a garden to commemorate civilians killed in Birmingham in the Second World War. Thanks to nineteenth-century and later planting, Witton is notable for its magnificent trees.
Mainly taken from: English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, reference GD2817, revised draft description by Jonathan Lovie, Register Inspector, 2001. The site extends through SP0891 and SP0892. The main east and west entrances are in SP0892.