Ghosts of Warstone Lane in Birmingham

Murderers were often executed and buried at a crossroads, as were suicides. People used to regard a crossroads as a kind of unholy no-man's land, a place between the physical and the spiritual. To be buried at a crossroads meant that your soul could never rest. It was intended that murderers and suicides should continue to suffer after death.

Key Hill and Warstone Lane were kept pretty busy in Victorian times. Life in an industrial city was harsh and unhealthy. A typical factory worker was lucky to reach his fortieth birthday and child mortality was incredibly high. Many professional undertakers firms were founded during this period. A Victorian funeral procession was an elaborate sight. Black coaches were pulled by black horses covered in black ostrich feathers.

Family, friends and even professional mourners would form a long procession on the way to the grave. The use of flowers, to overcome the stench of the corpse, began at this time. In fact, in the days before modern embalming fluids, a cemetery was a very smelly place. Gravediggers would have to fortify themselves with rum to carry out their unpleasant trade.

It would have been very unwise to light your pipe in the vicinity of the catacombs as gases from decomposing bodies could have caused an explosion! A law had to be passed that stated that only lead lined coffins could be placed in the catacombs.

Over the years, Warstone Lane and Key Hill have unsurprisingly, become associated with ghostly happenings.

The grey image of a young woman, dressed in 1930's clothes, has been seen on many occasions. Two men were astonished to see this strange figure walk straight through a wall. Another person was equally shocked to see her walk, or float, through a parked car. She even forced one driver to make an emergency stop, before smiling at him and promptly disappearing. An interesting aspect to these sightings is that people have reported a "pear drop smell" lingering in the air. This is what arsenic smells like and this substance was used extensively in the Jewellery Quarter. Could this be the ghost of a women killed by arsenic poisoning?

Back in the days when the Birmingham Mint was busy bashing out coins of the realm, it was decided that an extension should be built at the back of the building, on cemetery land. This meant moving a few graves and, as we all know, the dead do not like to be disturbed.

One of the builders was terrified to see what he could only describe as a "spectre". He and his colleagues refused to return to the site.

Another man was once bending over a machine, trying to repair it. He asked his mate to hand him a spanner and put out his hand behind him. The tool was put in his hand, but when he turned around his workmate was nowhere to be seen.

The ghost of a young man in a long army style trench coat was once seen at the catacombs. This encounter is particularly interesting because it seems that this ghost actually spoke to someone. The witness was walking through the cemetery during a downpour. He decided to seek shelter in the catacombs where he encountered the strange young man. They had a brief conversation in which the witness was surprised to hear the young man refer to Dudley Road Hospital as "the infirmary", an old fashioned name not used since 1948.

When the man walked away from the catacombs he turned around but could see no sign of the odd young man he had spoken to only seconds before.

If you like walking around old cemeteries and gazing at the tombstones of the dear departed, Key Hill and Warstone Lane are excellent places to spend a weekend afternoon.

Unfortunately these grade II listed cemeteries have been neglected for many years. However, plans are in motion, by groups such as Friends of Key Hill, to restore these valuable sites.

A word of warning: Do not visit Key Hill or Warstone Lane after dark. Sadly, in modern day Birmingham, there are real life monsters lurking amongst the gravestones.