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St Thomas' Peace Garden

St. Thomas' Peace Garden
St Thomas' Peace Garden, Birmingham, UK.jpg
The remains of St. Thomas' Church
Location Birmingham, England
Coordinates 52°28′24″N 1°54′22″W / 52.4734°N 1.906°W / 52.4734; -1.906Coordinates: 52°28′24″N 1°54′22″W / 52.4734°N 1.906°W / 52.4734; -1.906
Created 1995 (1995)
Operated by Birmingham City Council

St Thomas' Peace Garden (aka the Peace Gardens) is a small public park in Birmingham, England, designated as a monument to peace and a memorial to all those killed in armed conflict.

The Peace Gardens were designed around the tower and west porticos of St Thomas's Church, Bath Row, which was half demolished in the Birmingham Blitz in 1940 and never restored. The grounds were laid out in 1955 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. They were redesigned in 1995 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II. When the world leaders came to Birmingham for the G8 summit in 1998, each planted a tree. Each premier chose a tree that most represented their respective countries and they are now a living symbol of peace. Although the Peace Garden is within St Thomas' grounds this is a site that is for everyone including the ever growing numbers of non-religious people of Birmingham, the West Midlands and the world.

Following victory in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Parliament set up a Commission that was given £1million to build so called 'Waterloo Churches' in an act of national thanksgiving in 1818. Two of the Commissioners' churches in Birmingham were designed in a neo-classical style by Thomas Rickman, St. Thomas' and St. Peter's, Dale End in 1825 (now demolished).

St Thomas' was described at the time as 'of great simplicity, and in every respect consistent with the sacred purpose to which it is dedicated.' The neo-classical rather than gothic designs may have been the result of a rumour in The Quarterly Review, later denied, that the Commissioners wanted no more gothic churches.

The reason may have been economic, however; Commission Minute Books indicate that Rickman produced two early English designs which would have been more expensive than the neo-classical designs which were finally accepted. The foundation stone of the church was laid by the Bishop of Worcester on 22 October 1826 and three years afterwards the building was completed, being consecrated on 22 October 1829.


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