Black Country Living Museum

Black Country Landscape: An entire village depicting Edwardian, Victorian, 1930s, and 1940s lifestyle has been meticulously recreated, with people in costumes, appropriate food, and music. Walk down the streets and experience life in erstwhile Birmingham!

Domestic and Cultural Life: The cafés, sweet shop, cake shop, inn, chapel, general store, chemists’ and houses show visitors a slice of British life in the twentieth century. Watch and join street games, indulge in conversation with the locals and indulge in the delicacies of the time!

Historical Buildings: The various shops, cottages, and steam engines are authentic Victorian buildings that depict a bygone era in English culture. Learn about the construction, maintenance, and the history behind these monuments from the best historians in the Museum.

Library: The archive and library house artifacts and items from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The library holds books, manuals, letters and historical books of Birmingham.

Metalworking Industry: A trap shop, backyard nail workshop, brass foundry, rolling mill, forge, chain maker shop and a hammer shop depict the prosperous metalwork industry of Black Country. Daily demonstrations of nail bending, brass work making, and chain forging are held.

Transport: The transport collection consists of trams, motor buses, trolleybuses, cars, bicycles and motorbikes from a hundred years ago. Noteworthy in this collection is the open-top double-decker bus (that you can ride even today), Sunbeam, Star and Clyno cars, Wearwell and Rockson motorbikes, and Harry Albino bicycles. A 1924 model fire engine and a Model T Ford van are also housed here.

Dudley Tunnel and Canal: Take a narrowboat ride through this Victorian canal that borders the village. As you float into Dudley Tunnel, watch out for historic lime mines and caverns.  

St James School: Take a 1912 school lesson with teachers of the time, and see how you fare alongside a student. Beware, the teachers are armed with canes and aren’t afraid to use them! Classes are offered in this authentic public school all day long.

Fairground: Be part of authentic Victorian fair and indulge in carnival games, street dancing, and delectable snacks.

Underground mine: Step into the shoes of an Edwardian miner and walk into the dimly lit underground coal mine, where one gets a fair picture of the dangerously adventurous job that fuelled the Revolution.

The Black Country Living Museum hosts different events on a daily basis. Visit the official website for current events.

The town of Black Country rose to prominence during the Industrial Revolution when Duds Dudley discovered the art of smelting iron. Locks, tubes, trams, and engines were manufactured in this region, which completely transformed the town into a prosperous city.

Conceptualised in the 1950s, the Black Country Museum was opened to the public in 1966 as an open-air venue to display items and collections from the Industrial Revolution in an authentic setting. Houses, shops, mines, and factories were painstakingly reassembled with original material, with great attention to detail. Today, the museum is an anchor point for the European Route of Industrial Heritage, which traces the development of the continent during Edwardian times. It is the UK’s third most visited open-air museum as well.

• The Museum has numerous accessible outlets, so ask for an accessibility map at the admissions desk or visit the Museum website
• The Museum Gift shop offers official merchandise of the show Peaky Blinders. Morrall’s Gentleman’s Outfitters is a themed store selling twentieth-century men’s apparel. The Rock and Fossil Shop sells trinkets, fossils and interesting rocks from nearby mines.
• Dining options at the Museum include  Hobbs’ Fish and Chips Shop, Veal’s Bakery, T. Cook’s Sweetshop, Crown Tubeworks Cafe, Workers’ Institute Cafe, and Bottle & Glass Inn. 
• Accessible toilets are available in multiple locations; look out for the signs. 
• Free manual wheelchairs are available on prior notice.
• The Museum’s vintage style accessibility vehicle Doris can be hailed at any point during the visit.

The Museum is located at Tipton Road, Dudley, Birmingham.

Car: The museum is on the A4037, between Dudley and Tipton. From M5 Junction 2, take the A4123 towards Wolverhampton/Dudley. Turn left southwards, on A4037 Tipton Road. The Museum is on the right.

From M6 Junction 10, take the A454 (A463) Black Country Route towards Wolverhampton/Dudley, and take a southeasterly left onto the A4123 Birmingham New Road. After 2.4 miles, take a right onto A4037 Tipton Road. The Museum is on the right.

There is car parking available at the Museum for a price of GBP 3.50 per day. In case the parking area is full, the overflow car park is offered free of cost. If directed to the Zoo car park, a token fee of GBP 3.50 (to be purchased at the entrance to the car park) applies.

Train: Take a train to Tipton Railway Station on the Birmingham-Wolverhampton line. The Museum is one mile away from the station.

Bus: The following buses ply to the Black Country Living Museum – 24, 229, 311, 313, 610. A single ticket is priced at GBP 2.40.

Cycle: The Dudley National Cycle Route leads directly to the Museum. It is accessible through the West Midlands Cycle Route and Birmingham-Wolverhampton Cycle Route as well.

Taxi: Taxis are priced upwards of GBP 3.50. It is advisable to book a return trip beforehand as there is no taxi rack near the Museum.