Witton Cemetery

Witton Cemetery (), which opened in Witton in 1863 as Birmingham City Cemetery, is the largest cemetery in Birmingham, England. Covering an area of , it once had three chapels; however, two of these were demolished in 1980. The cemetery would perform up to 20 burials a day; however, it was declared "full to capacity" in December 2013, allowing burials only in existing family plots, or of babies or cremated remains. Extra capacity was therefore provided at the nearby New Hall Cemetery. The cemetery office was opened in 1999.

History

Started in May 1860 and consecrated by the Bishop of Worcester on 23 May 1863, it was the only cemetery owned by the Corporation of Birmingham until 1911, when an expansion of the city boundary brought in others.''In The Midst of Life - A History of the Burial Grounds of Birmingham'', Joseph McKenna, Birmingham Library Services, 1992, Key Hill and Warstone Lane Cemetery were private concerns. It opened in 1863 with an area of . In 1869, were bought by the Jewish community for their interments, forming Birmingham Hebrew Congregation Cemetery, at the north of the site, across College Road. In 1882 an obelisk was constructed to replace the monuments that were previously at The Old Meeting House chapel, which itself was demolished to make way for New Street railway station.Nicholson, Jean et al: ''The Obelisks of Warwickshire'', p. 46. Brewin Books, 2013

War graves

The cemetery contains 459 Commonwealth service war graves from World War I, over 200 of whom form three denominational war graves plots marked by screen walls bearing names of those buried within the plots and elsewhere in the cemetery whose graves could not be marked by headstones.
CWGC Cemetery report.

There are 224 Commonwealth war graves from World War II, the highest concentration (31 burials) in a small war graves plot in Sections 55 and 56, and the rest are scattered individually in the rest of the cemetery. The names of 12 service personnel of that war whose graves could not be marked by CWGC headstones were added to the screen wall at the World War I plots.

Notable burials

* Private George Ravenhill (1872–1921), VC recipient Boer War. Grave currently (2012) unmarked.
Burial Locations for VC Holders, city of Birmingham.
* William Snook, athlete (1861–1916). Died in workhouse hospital, his funeral paid for by former running club Birchfield Harriers.
* Sergeant Arthur Vickers (1882–1944), VC recipient First World War.
* John Cadbury (1801–1889) was the proprietor of a small chocolate business in Birmingham, England, that later became Cadbury plc.
* James Guidney (1782–1866), former soldier and pedlar

References

External links

Birmingham City Council page

{{Cemeteries in England

Cemeteries in Birmingham, West Midlands
Anglican cemeteries in the United Kingdom
1863 establishments in the United Kingdom