churchcrawling

May 17, 2024

They breed them tough in the Black Country.

One of the better known historical figures from the Black Country is Tipton-born William Perry, more widely known as the ‘Tipton Slasher’ and boxing champion of England from 1850 to 1857. His boxing exploits and successes need not be revisited – his story has been told many times on-line with many extracts from contemporary accounts… Continue reading

Burial

19thcentury, blackcountry, boxing, churchcrawling, dudley, england, family-history, genealogy, history, kateshill, localhistory, theblackcountry, tipton, tiptonslasher, williamperry
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

Uncategorized

architecture, art, books, carvedcross, carvedinstone, churchart, churchcrawling, churchhistory, family, genealogy, history, localhistory, penn, stonecarving, stonework, theblackcountry, twentyman, westmidlands, wolverhampton
Nov 8, 2023

G. H. Randle and W. Randle of Kings Norton

Some of you may recall an earlier post where we wondered who had created the lovely St Mary & St Anne window at St Augustine of Hippo near Dudley. Well, one of us had the clever idea of looking at the recently updated Pevsner covering the Black Country which gave us a name and a… Continue reading

Church Treasures

annunciation, archangelgabriel, artsandcrafts, blackcountry, churchcrawling, churchtreasures, dudley, historicchurch, history, localhistory, pevsner, st anne, st mary, stainedglass, staugustine, theblackcountry, westmidlands
Oct 10, 2023

What do you keep in your coal cellar?

We are blessed throughout the Black Country with some amazing stained glass in our churches – from Camm and Evans in Smethwick, Lemmon and Davies and the “members” of the Bromsgrove Guild, and of course the long-lasting Hardman company. It’s such a shame that so many of these delights are behind locked doors. But something… Continue reading

Burial, Church Treasures

1600s, 17thcentury, alabaster, allsaints, churchcrawling, churchtreasures, effigy, gloucesterhsire, halton, history, legge, leigh, localhistory, longborough, mementomori, memorial, monuments, oxfordshire, parishchurch, patshull, sandwell, sandwellhall, theblackcountry, tomb, westbromwich, whorwood
Oct 4, 2023

The Morris window at Coseley

William Morris the writer, poet and social activist who is more widely known for his designs of textiles, wallpaper, furniture, and stained glass, died 127 years ago yesterday on the 3rd October in 1896. The decorative arts and furnishings company Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (1861–1875) was founded by Morris who later restructured the company, changing the… Continue reading

Church Treasures

angels, artsandcrafts, bilston, cherub, christchurch, christinmajesty, churchcrawling, churchtreasures, coseley, dudley, iconography, localhistory, MaiestasDomini, morrisandco, parishchurch, preraphaelite, saints, stainedglass, stainedglasswindow, theblackcountry, westmidlands, williammorris
Sep 13, 2023

More Patshull Memorials

St Mary’s Patshull is a lovely church, now in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was built in the 1740s by James Gibbs (who was also responsible for the Hall) for Sir John Astley, who had had the older Patshull parish church demolished as it was on the site where he wanted to… Continue reading

Burial, Church Treasures

18thcentury, 19thcentury, cct, cemetary, churchcrawling, churchesconservationtrust, churchtreasures, death, earlofdartmouth, elalamein, Gallipoli, graves, graveyard, history, localhistory, memntomori, memorials, militaryhistory, patshull, sandwell, sandwellhall, southstaffordshireregiment, staffordshire, suvlabay, theblackcountry, westbromwich, wolverhampton
Sep 4, 2023

Sir Rick Astley

The splendid Astley tomb at Patshull, a rare surviving portrayal of Royalist Troops in the 17th century. Sir Richard Astley (Rick?) is pictured leading the troops. He raised a troop of horse for King Charles I and served as captain during the first Civil War, possibly fighting with Lord Loughborough’s regiment. The Astleys, Royalists during… Continue reading

Church Treasures, Uncategorized

17thcentury, alabastertomb, churchcrawling, churchtreasures, englishcivilwar, englishcivilwars, localhistory, meidieval, mementomori, mementomorimonday, monument, monumentsmonday, patshull, tomb, westmidlands, wolverhampton

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.