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Black Country Living Museum
The main village street
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Established	1975
Location	Dudley, West Midlands
Type	Open-air living museum

The Black Country Living Museum is an awesome open-air museum in Dudley, England. It's in the heart of the Black Country, which is about 10 miles west of Birmingham. The museum covers a huge area of old industrial land, including a former railway yard and old coal pits.

This amazing museum first opened its doors in 1978. Since then, it has brought together over 50 historic shops, houses, and industrial buildings. These buildings were carefully moved from places like Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, and Wolverhampton to create a special village. Here, you can see how people lived and worked over 300 years of history, mostly focusing on the years between 1850 and 1950.

The museum is always growing, with new buildings and cool exhibits being added all the time!

What's the Black Country?

Skipping in the street, a common sight at one time

The museum is located in the Black Country, a place famous for its history. It's even called the "birthplace of the Industrial Revolution"! This is because Dud Dudley first figured out how to make iron using coal here, instead of wood. This discovery helped kick off a huge change in how things were made. The Black Country became known for making all sorts of metal products, from tiny nails to giant anchor chains for ships like the Titanic.

At the museum, you can explore the area's coal mining past. There's an underground mine and buildings from a colliery (a coal mine). You can also see a working copy of a Newcomen steam engine. This incredible invention was first used successfully in Tipton in 1712 to pump water out of mines. The museum's engine is a careful reconstruction based on old drawings.

To get around, you can ride electric trams and trolleybuses from the entrance to the village. The museum is one of only three places in the UK that still has working trolleybuses! On your way to the village, you'll pass some cool Cast Iron Houses and a fun 1930s fairground. You can even take a ride on a narrowboat into the Dudley Canal and the Dudley Tunnel.

In 2012, the museum's collection was given a special "designated status" by Arts Council England. This means it's recognized as super important, both nationally and internationally! The museum is run by a charity called the Black Country Living Museum Trust.

Cool Things to See

Ruby glass sweet bowl

When you first arrive, you'll enter through the old Rolfe Street Baths building from Smethwick. Inside, you'll find displays of local items. These show off the many products made in the Black Country. Think cast iron pots, animal traps, vehicles, chains, anchors, and even fancy glassware. The area has a long history of making beautiful crystal glass.

Mines and Lime Kilns

The museum site used to have 42 old mine shafts! Two of them are now preserved.

In 1712, Thomas Newcomen built the world's first successful steam engine. It was used to pump water out of coal mines. In 1986, after ten years of hard work, the museum finished building a full-size working copy of this engine. It's called a "fire engine" and is inside a brick building. A big wooden beam sticks out of one wall, and rods hang from it. These rods operate pumps deep in the mine shaft, bringing water to the surface. It's amazing to see how it works!

Lime kilns at the museum

People have been working with lime on this site since medieval times. You can still see old quarries, underground areas, the canal, and preserved lime kilns. These are all part of an ancient monument, showing history from medieval times right up to the 20th century. The lime kilns next to the canal were built by the Earl of Dudley to process limestone. The oldest of the three kilns you see today is from the late 1700s.

Metal Working

The museum has many workshops that show how metal products were made:

Trap Shop: This shop was built in 1913 in Wednesfield. It shows how animal traps were made around the 1930s.
Nail Shop: This is a copy of a small workshop from the 1880s. You can watch a nail maker use old tools to forge nails by hand.
Brass Foundry: Built in 1869 in Walsall, this workshop was moved to the museum in 1986. You can often see a brass caster making things like horse brasses.
Rolling Mill: This machine, used to shape metal, was moved from Oldbury. Volunteers sometimes operate it.
Anchor Forge: This workshop was saved from a factory in Cradley Heath. It has a huge steam-hammer used to make parts for ship anchors.
Chain Maker's Shop: This shop shows how small and medium-sized chains were made by hand. The chain industry was very important in places like Cradley Heath. You can watch chain being made every day!
Oliver Hammer: This was a foot-operated hammer used to forge bolts. The machine shop at the museum shows how these were used.

The Village

Hardware Store and Ironmonger's, formerly Pipers Row Wolverhampton.

Glass engraver at work in a workshop in the village.

In the northern part of the museum, a whole village has been created! Houses, shops, workshops, and public buildings were carefully taken apart and rebuilt brick by brick. It's like stepping into an early 20th-century village. Staff in old-fashioned costumes show you what life was like back then.

The village has many interesting shops:

Gregory's General Store: A classic general store.
Emile Doo's Chemist Shop: An old-fashioned pharmacy.
A sweet shop and a cake shop with a bakery.
A hardware and ironmongers shop from Wolverhampton.
A pawnbroker's shop that was moved to the museum in 1991.

You can also see back-to-back houses from the 1850s, which were homes for miners and ironworkers. The anchor maker's house was one of the first buildings moved to the museum.

Public buildings include the Providence Chapel, one of the first buildings rebuilt here. There's also the Bottle and Glass Inn, a working pub set up like it was in 1910. You can even spot an old postbox from London, designed in 1865!

The Carter's Yard, built around 1900, was also moved to the museum in the 1990s.

1930s Street (Old Birmingham Road)

This street connects St James's School with the Cradley Heath Workers' Institute. The buildings here are set in the 1930s, showing what life was like just before World War II.

At St James's School, museum staff show you what lessons and school life were like around 1900. The school building was moved to the museum in 1989.

You can visit Hobbs & Sons fish and chip shop and H Morrall's gentlemen's outfitters, both set in 1935. The fish and chip shop has cool hand-painted tiled walls.

Four buildings from Oldbury were saved and date back to about 1860. These include Humphrey Brothers, a builders' merchant, and a motorcycle shop. There's also Alfred Preedy & Sons tobacconist shop and James Gripton's radio shop, which shows 'new' and second-hand radios from 1939.

Behind these shops, you can explore a 1930s kitchen with an electric cooker. Upstairs, there are living rooms and bedrooms furnished with original 1930s items.

The Cradley Heath Workers' Institute is a very important building. It was built with money raised during a strike by women chain makers in 1910. This building became a place for meetings and activities for workers. It's a tribute to Mary Macarthur and her fight for fair wages for people who worked long hours for very little money. Inside, you can see reconstructed offices and a large hall used for performances.

1930s Fairground

Behind the school, you'll find a 1930s fairground. This shows what a traveling fair would have looked like in the early 1900s. These fairs brought excitement and fun to people who might not have had many other forms of entertainment. The fairground has historic rides like a helter skelter and the Ark, which was a super-fast ride in the 1920s!

Lord Ward's Canal Arm

Work on the boat dock started in 1976. The museum wanted to show what a typical dock on the Birmingham Canal Navigations (BCN) would have looked like. These docks were used to build or repair wooden and iron boats.

Dudley Canal Trust boat outside the Dudley Tunnel, behind the museum

Right next to the museum is the Dudley Tunnel. You can take a 45-minute boat trip with a guide into the tunnel. You'll go through historic limestone mines and caverns – it's a unique experience!

Boat Collection

The museum has a collection of boats, some it owns, and some are on loan. These include many historic narrowboats like Prosper, Edna Irene, Admiral Beatty, and President.

Transport Collection

Wolverhampton District Electric Tramways Company tram No. 34

Dudley, Stourbridge and District Electric Traction Company tram No. 5 operating at the museum in 1990

Guy single-decker KTT 689

The museum's large size means it can show off many different types of road transport. Many of these vehicles were used or even made right here in the Black Country!

Trams

The museum has several historic trams, including:

Dudley, Stourbridge and District Electric Traction Company No. 5: Built in 1920, this was the museum's first tram.
Wolverhampton Tramways Company Horse Tram No. 23: Built in 1892, this is the museum's oldest tram!
Wolverhampton Corporation Tramways No. 49: A double-decker tram built in 1909, now in service at the museum.

Motor Buses

You can also see old motor buses like:

West Bromwich Corporation Daimler CVG6: Built in 1948.
Midland Red BMMO D9: Built in 1963.
Guy Motors KTT 689: Built in 1948.

Trolleybuses

Walsall Corporation trolleybus 862 at the museum

The museum runs a trolleybus service on certain days. It's one of the few places in the world with double-deck trolleybus services! The museum has three trolleybuses from the Black Country's past networks:

Wolverhampton Corporation Transport 433: A Sunbeam built in 1946.
Bradford Corporation Transport 735: A Karrier built in 1946, painted to look like a local Walsall trolleybus.
Walsall Corporation Transport 862: Another Sunbeam built in 1955.

Motor Cars

Wolverhampton was home to early car makers like Sunbeam and Star. The museum has cars like a 1903 Sunbeam and a 1912 Star.

Motorcycles

The museum has about 40 motorcycles, all made in the Black Country. Many are from Sunbeam and AJS.

Other Vehicles

The museum also has some unique vehicles, including a 1924 Guy fire engine and a Model T Ford van.

Filming Location

The museum is a popular spot for filming! It has been used for TV shows like WPC 56 and Peaky Blinders. The movie Stan & Ollie, about Laurel and Hardy, also filmed some scenes on the museum's 1930s Street.

Future Plans

The museum has exciting plans for the future! They received a huge grant to expand and tell the story of the Black Country up to 1968. New plans include moving and rebuilding buildings like Wolverhampton's Elephant & Castle pub, a newsagent, a hairdressers, and a library, all from the 1940s to 1960s. This expansion will make the museum even bigger and create new jobs!

Gallery

Station Road Cottages
Early Sunbeam motor car.
Vehicles on display Exhibition Hall Two, prior to 2008. The vehicle collection is now displayed in the Bradburn & Wedge showroom and other areas across the site.
Tangye stationary engine on display in Exhibition Hall One.
Early fire engine, probably made at the John Marston Co. Ltd. factory in Wolverhampton, which made Sunbeam cars and motor cycles.
Regina Enamelware was locally manufactured in Lye.
A trolleybus at the museum
1909-built Fellows Morton & Clayton steam narrowboat President, preserved in working order and based at the museum
Detail of a boiler manufactured by the Cradley Boiler Co. of Cradley Heath, on display at the museum
Trolleybuses at the museum. The rear (dark green and cream) vehicle is from Derby and the front (light green and yellow) vehicle is from Wolverhampton. The red bus in the distance is a BMMO motor bus.
Exhibition Hall: the iron trusses are from the former Rolfe Street public baths, Smethwick, built 1888, designed by Harris, Martin & Harris

Rail Access

Tipton railway station

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