Please Note
The underground mine will be closed due to maintenance, however the Museum will be offering a new alternative colliery experience. This twenty minute guided tour will include an explanation of underground mine working, a candlelight experience and a guided walk around the colliery area including the winding engine, pit head frame and buildings.
Britain’s Friendliest Open Air Museum
Discover a fascinating world when you visit this urban heritage park in the shadow of Dudley Castle at the heart of the Black Country.
Historic buildings from all around the Black Country have been moved and authentically rebuilt at the Museum, to create a tribute to the traditional skills and enterprise of the people that once lived in the heart of industrial Britain.
Visitors are transported back in time from the modern exhibition halls to the canal-side village, where costumed demonstrators and working craftsmen bring the buildings to life with their local knowledge, practical skills and unique Black Country humour.
Save money by purchasing your tickets online
Special Events
The Black Country Living Museum is a world-class open air attraction which unites the past and the present in an unforgettable 'living' experience.
The Museum organises a host of fascinating events throughout the year - all designed to ensure visitors enjoy an unbeatable day out.
See the Events Programme for more details
News
Museum’s Fundraising Appeal hits Halfway Mark
by BCLM
A campaign to raise £60,000 to restore the world’s only working full size replica of the Newcomen engine is steaming ahead at Black Country Living Museum and has already reached the halfway mark! £30,000 for vital restoration work has been donated by Black Country businesses and the Dudley Museum is celebrating reaching the milestone in time for the Newcomen Engines 300th birthday in 2012. The Newcomen engine was the single most important invention of the Industrial Revolution. It was accelerated industrial development in the Black Country and ultimately across Britain and overseas and formed the basis of all later types of steam power. The Museum’s engine is closely based on the original ‘Fire Engine’, as it was known, pumped water from coal mines on Lord Dudley’s estates. In 1986, after more than ten years of painstaking research, the Museum completed the construction of a full-scale working replica of the 1712 engine. But after 25 years of service, £60,000 of work is needed to restore it to its full working potential in time for its tercentenary birthday celebrations. Carolyn Pugh, the Museum’s Director of Development said: “When ‘in steam’ the Newcomen engine is one of the Museum’s most impressive sights but this work is crucial, not only to prepare it for its starring role next year but also so that many more thousands of visitors can learn about and enjoy it in years to come. “£30,000 has already been raised from a number of generous private trusts, individuals and companies including the Owen Family Trust, the 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust, Edward Cadbury Charitable Trust and the Friends of the Black Country Living Museum but funds are still needed.” Next year the Museum’s engine will take centre stage to celebrate the 300th anniversary of this important invention. A programme of refurbishment began in August which includes replacing the wooden head frame and adjusting worn parts of the pump and the mine shaft. The valve gear, piston and cylinders will also be repaired. The work is scheduled to be completed for the Newcomen tercentenary celebrations at the Museum in July 2012, which includes a Newcomen Society Lecture by television presenter, Adam Hart-Davies. To find out more you can visit the blog at http://newcomen.bclm.com or call Carolyn Pugh on 0121 521 3511.
Our Collections
Since its establishment in 1975, the Museum has collected material relating to the Black Country and held this in trust for the benefit of the public.
In addition to this the Trust assumed responsibility for collections made in the name of the Black Country Museum by Dudley Museum and Art Gallery since 1967.
In 2003 we took over the buildings and collections of the Lock Museum in Willenhall, now known as the Locksmith’s House.
Join Our Team
The Black Country Living Museum is one of the UK’s leading open-air museums – having recently welcomed its 7 millionth visitor since it opened 33 years ago and now attracting 312,000 visitors annually to its astonishing 26 acre site, two miles from the town centre of Dudley.
Casual Team Members (Food & Drink)
We are currently looking to recruit a number of Casual Team Members to help to provide an optimum level of front-line customer service throughout our food and drink outlets.
The Team Members (food & drink) will be responsible for providing an excellent, professional, pro-active and friendly waiting service or counter service to our food and drink customers, including the taking and serving of orders, assistance in the production of lunch items, snacks, fish & chips, light meals, desserts and drinks, the preparation and clearing of tables and the unit kitchen and assisting with the monitoring of stock levels.
More details can be found here
The Museum as a Venue
The Black Country Living Museum offers a corporate venue with a difference just nine miles from Birmingham City Centre.
- Meetings & Conferences
- Presentations
- Product Launches
- Exhibitions
- Training Days and Seminars
- Corporate Evenings
- Company Family Days
Friends of the Museum
The Friends are the group of people who originally were the driving force behind the formation of the Black Country Living Museum in the 1970s.
Since then the Friends (a registered charity) have supported the Museum in collecting exhibits, manning displays, promoting the Museum, organising events and making donations.
The Friends are responsible for the services in the Museum Chapel and the Living History Weekends. In addition a group of Friends are trained to act as guides and demonstrators and there is a talks panel which provides speakers for outside bodies.
Locksmith's House
The Locksmith’s House is a perfect venue for group visits where parties can enjoy the Victorian House and workshop, with its nationally significant collection of locks and keys
The Locksmith's House is open for visitors by appointment only, so you must pre-book your visit.
Pre-booked parties can take a guided tour in gas-lit rooms, soak up the atmosphere and hear the clatter of belt driven machinery in the workshop.
To book your visit call: 0121 520 8054
NB Visits to the Locksmith House are Pre-Book Only
Black Country Living Museum Trust.
Tipton Road, Dudley, West Midlands, DY1 4SQ.
A Private Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England Company No. 1226321 and Registered as a Charity No. 504481
The Museum is run by The Black Country Living Museum Trust as a ‘not for profit’ organisation which earns most of its running costs from admission income and sales to visitors.
The Black Country Living Museum deals with the history of the Black Country, the heart of industrial England, with recreated buildings from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries brought to life by costumed demonstrators and trained educational guides.
