St. Mary's Church, Handsworth
St Mary's Church, Handsworth, also known as Handsworth Old Church, is an Anglican church in Handsworth, Birmingham, England. Its ten-acre grounds are contiguous with Handsworth Park. It is noteworthy as the resting place of famous progenitors of the industrial age, and has been described as "the cathedral of the Industrial Revolution".
Visit in November 2012
St Mary's, Handsworth is the burial / commemoration place of Matthew Boulton, James Watt and William Murdoch. The church is locked up so was not possible to view the internal memorials.
The graveyard is large and has a very large number from the 19th century but is very overgrown. The majority of the stones are unreachable due to being overrun by brambles, ivy and others. Some paths have been cut through this overgrowth but the majority of the site is impenetrable. The stones seem to be fairly soft material so many are losing their information. No occupations or trades were seen on the stones.
Beer cans and bottles out number the stones suggesting a sizeable population of the living during the hours of darkness.