A major feature is the two tiers of catacombs, whose unhealthy vapours led to the Birmingham Cemeteries Act which required that non-interred coffins should be sealed with lead or pitch.

[3] The cemetery was originally reserved for members of the established Church of England, whereas Key Hill (opened in 1836) was non-denominational, and was therefore favoured by nonconformists.

In the Birmingham Blitz of World War II St Michaels and All Saints chapel in Warstone Cemetery was damaged beyond repair and later razed.

Meanwhile, on the night of 11 December 1940, all but the tower and classical west portico of St Thomas' Church, Bath Row, was destroyed by German bombs.

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.