churchart

Jan 2, 2024

The Twentyman Cross

A beautiful carved stone cross stands in St Bartholomew’s churchyard in Penn, reminiscent of 9th century crosses dotted around the British Isles. The cross is dedicated to Alfred Charles Twentyman (1833-1908) J.P., chairman of Wolverhampton Hospital and international merchant, exporter of iron goods, agricultural items and guns. Alfred’s father was Liverpool-born Lawrence Holme Twentyman (1783-1852) a… Continue reading

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architecture, art, books, carvedcross, carvedinstone, churchart, churchcrawling, churchhistory, family, genealogy, history, localhistory, penn, stonecarving, stonework, theblackcountry, twentyman, westmidlands, wolverhampton
Sep 24, 2023

St Mary & St Anne at St Augustine of Hippo

Wonderful treasures hide inside the late 19thc red brick church of St Augustine of Hippo at Holly Hall in Dudley! Not only splendid glass by the Camm’s of Smethwick (which will no doubt be put on the blog at a later date) but the most exquisite window dedicated to Annie Maria Garratt by her son… Continue reading

Burial, Church Treasures

19thcentury, angel, angelgabriel, annunciation, churchart, churches, coalmaster, colliery, dudley, flowersymbolism, gabriel, gospel, greenman, halesowen, hawne, hollyhall, jobgarratt, karlparsons, localhistory, mayorofdudley, medieval, memorials, sacredart, saints, stainedglass, stanne, staugustineofhippo, stmary, symplism, towncross, wassellgrove, westmidlands

About the BCDM

The Black Country Dying Museum is a virtual museum residing on this blog and various social media exploring all aspects of death and dying across the West Midlands and beyond.

The BCDM is managed by a small group of friends, historians and church crawlers who have lived and worked in the Black Country for most of their lives and aims to celebrate Black Country history and culture through a focus on the morbid, the gruesome and the unwholesome, as well as the beautiful in the memorials and art hidden away in our churches and buildings.

Expect grim and unnatural tales of accidental death, murder, disease, near misses, horror, folklore and the supernatural. We might even include a bit of creative writing – inspired by real events of course!

We look at the art of death, at memorials to the famous and the infamous, the rich and the poor, the forgotten and the remembered, and at the local craftswomen and men who carved, painted and designed them.

In glass, in stone, in wood. In churches, market squares, on street corners and factory walls. We will share with you the classy, the quirky, the impressive and the surprising, the folksy and the classical.

Most history is ultimately about dead people. This museum proclaims with pride the many and various ways in which the good people of the Black Country (both by birth and adoption) have expired, shoved off, passed on, drawn the curtains, kicked the bucket, croaked, expired, bitten the dust or bought the farm. Or even managed to narrowly escape the grim reaper’s clutches.

Comments observations and contributions (the more grisly and ghastly the better) are always welcome.

Please be aware that much of the content is based on primary, often unpublished, research. All photographs are our own unless otherwise stated. We are more than happy for you to link to our sites and articles. If you want to otherwise make use of our content or images please check with us first. It is only good manners.

churchart

The Twentyman Cross

St Mary & St Anne at St Augustine of Hippo