In 1895, the Kings Norton Rural District Council, which was then outside the boundary of the expanding City of Birmingham, purchased farm land in Brandwood End, Kings Heath, in order to create a new cemetery to cope with the growing population of the area.

The cemetery was opened on 13th April 1899 by Mr George Talliss, the Chairman of the local Cemetery Committee, with the first burial, that of a young child, taking place on Saturday 15 April 1899.

As a typical Victorian Cemetery it was beautifully landscaped, and set out with a main tree lined central avenue which was intersected by smaller tree lined cross-drives, creating a grid pattern.

At its highest point stood the twin terracotta brick built Mortuary Chapels;  one for Non-Conformists and the other consecrated for the Anglican Church.  The central avenue passes directly between the two identical mortuary chapels and beneath the bell tower archway that connects the two buildings.

The management of the cemetery passed from Kings Norton RDC to the City of Birmingham in 1911 as the city extended its boundaries.  Further parcels of land were subsequently added to the orginal cemetery until it reached its current size of approximately 54 acres. 

Over 83,000 burials have taken place in the cemetery between 1899 and today. Although now closed for new burials, internments still take place in family plots and in the childrens' section.

It remains a beautiful example of the Victorian and Edwardian 'culture of commemoration' and one of the main objectives of The Friends is to assist in maintaining those old values and preserving the commemorative inheritance passed down to us by our 19th century predecessors on into the 21st Century.

Click the link below to download a history of Brandwood End Cemetery.

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