St Thomas' Peace Garden

St Thomas' Peace Garden is a small public park in Birmingham, England, designated as a monument to peace and a memorial to all those killed in armed conflict.The Peace Gardens were designed around the tower and west porticos of St Thomas's Church, Bath Row, which was half demolished in the Birmingham Blitz in 1940 and never restored. The grounds were laid out in 1955 to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. They were redesigned in 1995 to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the end of World War II. When the world leaders came to Birmingham for the G8 summit in 1998, each planted a tree. Each premier chose a tree that most represented their respective countries and they are now a living symbol of peace. Although the Peace Garden is within St Thomas' grounds this is a site that is for everyone including the ever-growing numbers of non-religious people of Birmingham, the West Midlands and the world.St. Thomas' ChurchFollowing victory in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Parliament set up a Commission that was given £1million to build so called 'Waterloo Churches' in an act of national thanksgiving in 1818. Two of the Commissioners' churches in Birmingham were designed in a neo-classical style by Thomas Rickman, St. Thomas' and St. Peter's, Dale End in 1825 (now demolished).