Key Hill Cemetery
Key Hill Cemetery in the Autumn. The Jewellery Quarter station of the Midland Metro is behind the wall
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| Details | |
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| Established | 1836 |
| Location | Hockley, Birmingham |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 52°29′28″N 1°54′54″W / 52.491°N 1.915°WCoordinates: 52°29′28″N 1°54′54″W / 52.491°N 1.915°W |
| Website | fkwc |
Key Hill Cemetery, (OS grid reference SP059882), originally called Birmingham General Cemetery, is a cemetery in Hockley (the Jewellery Quarter), Birmingham, England. It opened in 1836 as a nonconformist cemetery, and is the oldest cemetery, not being in a churchyard, in Birmingham. The principal entrance is on Icknield Street to the west, with a secondary entrance on Key Hill to the north. The cemetery contains the graves of many prominent members of Birmingham society in the late 19th century, to the extent that in 1915 E. H. Manning felt able to dub it "the Westminster Abbey of the Midlands".
It is the older of two cemeteries in Hockley, the other being Warstone Lane Cemetery, opened in 1847, which was originally reserved for members of the established Church of England.
The cemetery is no longer available for new burials.
The cemetery was originally laid out for the Birmingham General Cemetery Company by local architect Charles Edge (d.1867). It opened on 23 May 1836.
Many of its fittings and memorials are of architectural and artistic merit. The railings and entrance gates with imposing piers (all by Edge) are Grade II listed. The Greek Doric chapel, also by Edge, has been demolished. The cemetery is itself listed Grade II* on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. A campaign group, the Friends of Key Hill & Warstone Lane Cemeteries, lobbies to have the cemetery restored. The entrance piers and gates on both Icknield Street and Key Hill have been restored in recent years.
A comprehensive record of memorial inscriptions of existing memorials (and of some of those removed by Birmingham City Council) may be consulted through the Jewellery Quarter Research Trust's website.
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