The site of an historic Birmingham church bulldozed eight years ago is to be marked with a special plaque, the first of its kind in the city.
A mission hall known as Cromwell Hall, in Winson Green, was demolished in 1997 but has never been forgotten by the congregation and scores of community groups that used it for more than a century.
The Birmingham Civic society has now agrees to remember the church with a new kind of history plate, which it will now use alongside its traditional blue plaques.
Joyce Lockwood, whose great-grandfather Thomas Hope Aston bought the mission hall in 1896 has written a book about its history, Lord Mayor Coun. Mike Nangle unveiled the plaque on the wall of a house in Heath Green Road, which has been built on the site of the old hall.
The plate states how the hall was used by hundreds of people for family and youth activities such as bible classes, guides, brownies and scout meetings.
Joyce, 62, a retired insurance worker from Quinton, said: “I think the Civic Society felt that something else was needed for the city because the blue plaques are reserved for individuals.
“This plate recognises that the hall meant a lot to a great number of people.”
Michael Sheehan, honorary secretary of Birmingham Civic Society, said: “We’ve unveiled 76 blue plaques in the city over the past 40 years and we are continuing to do this.
“But there is clearly a need for this kind of plate to reflect the affection held by people for buildings that once united a community.”
By Poppy Brady, from Birmingam Evening Mail, first printed January 21, 2005. Reproduced by kind permission.