St Mary's Church, Handsworth - Plans To End The Neglect of The Churchyard

Plans To End The Neglect of The Churchyard

In 2006, and indeed for over 25 years, St Mary's churchyard has bordered on utter dereliction. It is a closed graveyard, with the apparently empty spaces to the south of the graveyard harbouring the final resting places of numerous paupers whose names are recorded in the Church Register but whose remains were interred without coffins or visible memorials, beyond the unevenness of the overgrown ground above them. The condition of the churchyard-—as a place that feels unsafe to some, whose memorials have become inaccessible to many, their inscriptions overgrown with ivy, headstones broken, unstable or unreachable through the surrounding undergrowth—-is recognised as a reproach to all who know the place. Even so, to those who enter the lime avenues long being kept clear of encroaching undergrowth, this wilderness contains mystery and beauty as well as melancholy. It is intended that planned improvements in the accessibility and appearance of the graveyard will be ones that restore it to respect in Handsworth, without lessening its serenity or its qualities as a haven for wildlife next to Handsworth Park. It is intended it should become a safer place, a more attractive place and a place of education for visitors of all ages. To this end there has been a marked increase in voluntary work in the graveyard while local community leaders have voted neighbourhood renewal funds that they hope will be matched by other regional agencies to implement a plan drawn up by the City Council's Landscape Practice Group to end years of neglect and bring about a rejuvenation similar to the great improvements they have funded in the neighbouring park between 2000 and 2006.

St Mary's present incumbent is the Rev. Brian A. Hall who, among his many roles in the local community, became, in March 2006, the chairman of a new group called "The Friends of St. Mary's Churchyard" (Handsworth Rectory, 288 Hamstead Road, Birmingham B20 2RB) which aims among more detailed goals 'to be a focus for future hopes for the integrity of St Mary’s Churchyard as a special place' — special not only for the respect accorded to the dead which ought to apply to all graveyards, but because of the association of this church and its grounds with the founding fathers of the industrial age, and more recently with two important figures in the development of football. William McGregor, Director of Aston Villa F.C., who organised the founding meeting of the Football League on 22 March 1888 and George Ramsay, whose headstone reads "Founder of Aston Villa".