St Mary’s Churchyard Heritage and Access Project Moseley
Project Category: Other
Supported by
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Our Story
This project will restore, make accessible, celebrate and tell the story of the historic Churchyard of St Marys Moseley. It will enable public access to and quiet enjoyment of the churchyard environment a vital green space in the centre of Moseley. It will create a place for learning and contemplation, building on the Churchyards spiritual, historic and ecological value. In 2015 the project was awarded a Heritage Lottery Grant which combined with funding from the church and donations meant we were able to launch in June 2015, the initial funded element of the project will last for 3 years but it is hoped with community support it will go on and grow from strength to strength. There are lots of ways to get involved from hands on gardening to genealogical research, helping organise events to writing the project newsletter and Marketing and PR to writing grant bids. Get in touch!
The aims of our Project are:
To provide opportunities for historical research.
To increase the knowledge of church and churchyard history for recording through an interpretation scheme, talks and articles for publication.
To create access for all.
To upgrade the existing path surfaces, create a new ramped pathway, provide handrails at the lych gate and West gate and install inset path lighting along key route-ways.
Refurbish and bring back into use the West gate reconnecting the churchyard with the centre of Moseley Village.
To conserve and restore the neglected churchyard, historic features and original 1903 burial plan.
To improve biodiversity and habitat creation, enhancing the ecological value of the site.
To encourage and promote positive use of the churchyard (for example by supporting school visits to use the churchyard as part of their local studies, literacy and numeracy curricula).
To promote the churchyard as a space for prayer, reflection and contemplation.
To provide a legacy for the future by returning the churchyard to a good state of repair.
To maintain a sacred yet shared space.
About us: St Marys Church Churchyard, Moseley is situated in the heart of suburban Birmingham the churchyard is the largest public open green space in the area but is underused by the community. The Churchyard was closed for burials in the 1980s; there are a relatively small number of gravestones/monuments. The majority of the site is covered with amenity grass with some specimen trees of note. An Ecological Assessment of the Churchyard concluded that there was scope for improvement, a sentiment echoed in a bee research survey conducted by the University of Birmingham in 2012 – through habitat creation, management and faunal species enhancement.
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