Work starts to dig up long-dead Brummies along proposed railway route
EXPERTS working on the HS2 high-speed rail link in Birmingham have begun to exhume thousands of Brummies who lie in the path of the huge infrastructure project.
Archaeologists are digging for bodies and historic artefacts within Park Street burial ground, in the shadow of Moor Street Station.
The land will eventually disappear beneath the proposed Curzon Street Station, artist’s impressions of which were recently revealed.
All the bones dug up, many from the era of the Industrial Revolution which saw Birmingham rapidly expand, will be studied in depth. HS2 Ltd will work with churches to ensure any remains are treated with dignity and respect before being reburied.
Preparatory work has already been ongoing for months at the site off Park Street, on the south eastern edge of the city centre.
During the next two years, more than 1,000 archaeologists, period specialists, scientists and conservators from across the UK will record finds from more than 60 archaeological sites along the route from London to Birmingham.
HS2’s archaeology programme will be Europe’s biggest dig and will provide a fascinating insight into the everyday lives of the people who made Britain from the prehistoric period to Roman Britain, the AngloSaxon and Medieval ages, the Industrial Revolution and Second World War. Several sites of significant archaeological interest are located in Birmingham:
The 18th and 19th century Park Street burial ground;
The nearby Freeman Street Baptist Meeting House and burial ground;
The remains Station yard;
A survey of the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Company at Saltley and Washwood Heath will also be carried out.
In particular, archaeologists will study the remains of those buried at of Curzon Street Park Street where people from all walks of life were interred, including skilled tradesmen and women who flocked to the city to work. Open for 63 years between 1810 and 1873, the burial ground will highlight life in this area during the city’s growth during the Industrial Revolution.
HS2 archaeologist Michael Court said: “Birmingham’s pivotal role in Britain’s Industrial Revolution is unquestionable and HS2’s archaeology programme in the city will allow us to tell the story of the skilled workers who fuelled it.
“Burial and historical records will aid archaeologists, scientists and historians in understanding how the buried population lived, worked and contributed to making Birming- ham the international powerhouse that it became.”
The public can get in on the act, too, with HS2 offering archaeology apprenticeships for local people.
Mr Court said: “Not only will HS2 add to our understanding of Birmingham’s past, but we are also offering ten places for a six-week paid training course on our site in Park Street.
“At a fascinating time for archaeology in the UK, this is a great time to get onboard. The sheer scale of possible discoveries, the geographical span and the vast range of our history to be unearthed makes HS2’s archaeology programme a unique opportunity to tell the story of Birmingham and Britain.”