Cofton Park is a park

Park

A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...

 located in south Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

History

The 135 acres of land land was acquired by Birmingham City Council

Birmingham City Council

The Birmingham City Council is the body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local authority in the United Kingdom with, following a reorganisation of boundaries in June 2004, 120 Birmingham...

 in 1933 for £10,640 (£ as of ), from the trustees for William Walter Hinde. In his will, he bequeathed the residue of his estate “for the purchase of land…to be kept for ever as an open space for the benefit of the people of Birmingham.”

It is home to Birmingham Park’s Cofton nursery which provides displays of bedding plants for parks throughout the City. The park is also used for civic occasions, the city centre floral display, Heart of England in Bloom and gardening shows such the Chelsea Flower Show

Chelsea Flower Show

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the Great Spring Show, is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural Society in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in Chelsea, London...

 and since 1996, BBC Gardeners’ World Live.

Pope Benedict XVI

During his visit to the United Kingdom

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom from 16 to 19 September 2010 was the first state visit by a pope to the United Kingdom...

, Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

 celebrated mass

Mass (liturgy)

"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...

 and presided over the beatification

Beatification

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name . Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process...

 of Cardinal

Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...

 John Henry Newman, with a crowd of 51,626 people present at the 80,000-capacity Cofton Park near Longbridge

Longbridge

Longbridge is an area of Birmingham, England. For local government purposes it is a ward within the district of Northfield.Since 1905, the area has been dominated by the Longbridge plant, which produced Austin, Nash Metropolitan, Morris, British Leyland, and most recently MG Rover cars...

, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, on Sunday 19 September 2010.

Prior to the mass, music and prayer ceremonies were held at the park and were broadcast live on BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

as part of their weekly programme Sunday Worship. At the end of the mass, once Pope Benedict XVI had left the park to continue on to other engagements, students from a local school performed numerous soul-inspired songs for the crowd.

External links

• Park's page on Birmingham City Council site