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.

Following victory in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Parliament set up a Commission that was given £1 million to build so called 'Waterloo Churches' in an act of national thanksgiving in 1818.

The grounds were laid out for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 when the gravestones were removed and the dead reinterred at Warstone Lane Cemetery.

Within the Peace Garden is a memorial to British service personnel who were killed or injured as a result of nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific Ocean.

Following the major development of Lee Bank in the 1960s, the square was surrounded by many poor quality buildings including a large bingo hall, however a regeneration plan for the area has begun[when?]