The Brandwood End Cemetery Chapels in Birmingham are Grade II-listed and built in 1898.
Grade II-listed, 1898, J Brewill Holmes
The twin chapels at Brandwood End Cemetery were designed and built in 1898 in a loose interpretation of the Perpendicular Gothic style. As with most chapels of their type, the first chapel was reserved for Anglican worshippers, and the second for Catholic and non-conformist worshippers. Their significance is in their symmetrical composition, with the gables of the flanking chapels both having the same two three-light perpendicular windows and cusped oculus, and their porches both meeting the central tower at the impost of its supporting arch. The chapels were intended to provide a dramatic central focus for sightlines through the cemetery and this is still very much the case today, but the positive impression that should be evoked by the striking needle spire – set at the cemetery’s highest point – is compounded by the condition to which they have been allowed to deteriorate. Closed for more than thirty years, and victim to an arson attack in 1995 which gutted the north-east chapel, the chapels are at risk of collapse. A Friends group was set up in 2005 and in 2012 the council pledged more than £76,000 for their restoration, but subsequently withdrew support due to spending cuts.
Status Update / March 2026
In 2020, window boards on two sides of the building were removed and replaced with Perspex. This improved the quality of light on the interior and enabled volunteers to remove debris and sweep the areas clean. The site has now been secured with a fence to deter arsonists and vandals and protect the interior, but there is still much to be done in the way of restoration and repairs, with the material fabric continuing to deteriorate.