Welcome to The Friends of Key Hill Cemetery & Warstone Lane Cemetery
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Welcome to the
Friends of
Key Hill Cemetery
&
Warstone Lane Cemetery
Raising funds for grave restoration, preserving the history of Birmingham
& caring for the community since 2004
Learn more About Us.
Working to protect our historical cemeteries
The Friends of Key Hill Cemetery was established in 2004 by a small group of people, concerned at the deterioration of the cemetery and alarmed at the potential loss of an important part of Birmingham’s Heritage. In 2009 Warstone Lane Cemetery was included, combining both the Jewellery Quarter Cemeteries.
We would like to thank the JQ Cemeteries Project for funding and support for a period of two years.
Birmingham History & Heritage Walking
Cemetery Tours
Birmingham Interior Catacomb Tours
Litter Picks & Volunteering
Birmingham Heritage Guided Tours
Warstone Lane Cemetery
(Brookfields)
Church of England
Extraordinary Lives Tour 2
2026 & 2027 Dates
8 Nov 2026
14 Feb 2027
11 April
13 June
8 Aug
12 Sept
14 Nov
Time:
11.50am for 12pm start
Meeting Point :
Inside
Warstone Lane Cemetery,
Vyse Street, B18
( Red Railings)
Location link here
Birmingham Heritage Guided Tours
Key Hill Cemetery
nondenominational
Extraordinary Lives Tour 1
2026 & 2027 Dates
11 Oct 2026
New Year, try something new
10 January 2027
14 March
9 May
11 July
12 Sept
10 Oct
Time:
11.50am for 12pm Start
Meeting Point :
Inside Key Hill Cemetery, Icknield Street, almost facing Park Road South B18
( Black railings)
Location link here
Birmingham Early
Evening Tours
An Indroduction to Key Hill Cemetery & Warstone Lane Cemetery
2026 Date
Twilight Tales
9 Oct
Time:
5.25 for 5.30pm
Meeting Point :
Outside the Rose Villa Tavern,
Vyse Street B18
(2027 Dates TBA)
Location link here
Tour 1
In The Shadows
Key Hill interior Catacombs Chambers
The Meeting Point:
At the Gazebo inside Warstone Lane cemetery, Vyse St, after collecting your admission badge, a Steward, will escort you to meet your guide in Key Hill catacombs.
2026
9 May
11 July
19 Sept
31 Oct
TOUR 1
Interior Catacomb Chambers
2027 Dates TBA
Volunteer Litter Picks.
10.30am-12.30pm
Join us to care for our cemeteries
The Meeting Point:
JQ Modern, Golden Sqaure, Vyse Street, B18
Location here
2026 Dates - Saturday
9 May
13 June
4 July
8 Aug
12 Sept
10 Oct
7 Nov
12 Dec
Membership and Tour Enquiries
Grave enquires
Our news and stories
News Subtitle
Frederick WAKELING, Suffragette supporter
Frederick WAKELING 1888-1948 was a supporter of the Women’s Suffrage movement.
Frederick along with his fellow men, dressed up in their wives and sister’s clothes and marched into Birmingham with placards in support for females to have the right to vote .
The suffragettes were firm believers in "Deeds, not words",
Here is a studio photograph of Frederick WAKELING holding a placard dressed in female clothing and holding a "Votes for Women" placard.
Frederick is buried in Key Hill Cemetery.
The famous Warstone or Hoarstone
The Warstone / Hoarstone is a glacial made from the volcanic rock which was carried here from Wales by glacial ice .
The Warstone was used as a Parish boundary where the manors of Birmingham , Aston, and Handsworth met. The stone has been in existence for thousand of years.
Today the stone rests on a plinth and it is situated in Warstone Lane Cemetery , near the Lodge in Warstone Lane .
The plinth that the stone rests on , has the following inscription:
This felsite boulder was deposited near here. by a glacier during the Ice Age: being at onetime used as a parish boundary mark, it was known as the ‘Hoar Stone’ of which the modern War Stone is a corruption”.
