WEST MIDLANDS |
| Aston Hall |
Off A4040, 2 miles north of Birmingham |
This is among the last of the great Jacobean houses to
be built in England. It was much admired by Horace Walpole who copied details from it for
his house at Strawberry Hill, Twickenham. The Great Stairs, Long Gallery, and Great Dining
Room frieze are major examples of early 17th century decoration. The cantilevered oak
staircase has an intricately carved balustrade, while the 135ft Long Gallery has a fine
strapwork ceiling and arcaded oak panelling. The exterior is equally ornate, with a host
of turrets, gables and octagonal chimneys. |
| Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
Chamberlain Square, in city centre |
The most famous picture in the art gallery is probably
the Pre-Raphaelite painting by Ford Madox Brown The Last of England, depicting a
couple departing for Australia. As well as its world-famous Pre-Raphaelite paintings, the
gallery has Turners and Constables. The prize work in the European section is Bellini's
magnificent Madonna and Child altarpiece, while the museum also contains a major
collection of coins and medals. Other treasures include glass and ceramics. |
| Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry |
Newhall Street, in city centre |
Fascinating machines on display in this museum range
from one of the world's oldest working steam engines - the Smethwick Engine of 1779 built
by Boulton and Watt - to John Cobb's World Land Speed Record Car. The museum pioneered the
running of steam engines, and the prize exhibit in the Locomotive Hall is the 1257 ton
Coronation Class Stanier Pacific locomotive City of Birmingham, which is moved
along its track by an hydraulic system once every hour. Some of the engines in the
Engineering Hall are run every day, and many of the automatic manufacturing machines on
display can be operated by push-button. |
| Black Country Museum |
On A4037, 1 mile north of Dudley |
On 26 acres of land the life and work of the heart of
industrial Britain are being re-created. Visitors can ride an electric tram, past a
replica of the world's first steam engine and a small colliery, to reach a village where
craftsmen can be seen at work in buildings brought from all over the Black Country. Here
are shop, homes, a bakery and a pub - all looking as they did in the 1880s. Across the
cast-iron bridge of 1879 spanning the canal can be found Gregory's Store - a 19th century
shop selling items ranging from butter to paraffin and drapery - a chainmaker's house, a
glasscutter's workshop and a fully equipped chemist's shop. Electric narrowboats run trips
through Dudley Tunnel. |
| Blakesley Hall |
Off A4040, 4 miles east of Birmingham |
The life of 17th century country gentry has been
reconstructed in the rooms of Blakesley Hall, following an inventory of the house made in
1684. The substantial timber-framed house, built a century earlier, was a family home for
more than 350 years. The large hall has its original long table where the family dined
before relaxing in the great parlour beside it. Upstairs is the Painted Chamber, decorated
with 16th century wall paintings rediscovered in the 1950s. |
| Coventry Cathedral |
Off Broadgate, in city centre |
The great charred cross which stands on the altar in
the ruins of the old cathedral - destroyed by fire bombs during the longest single air
raid suffered by any British city during the Second World War - has long been world
famous. It was made from two beams from the roof, and with the Cross of Nails is
recognised as a symbol of reconciliation and renewal. Since its consecration in 1962 the
new cathedral, linked to the old by a canopy, has become a place of pilgrimage. Although
no longer new as modern architecture goes, Coventry Cathedral is still capable of
astonishing visitors by the simplicity, boldness and coherence of vision of the architect,
Sir Basil Spence, and by the brilliant effects achieved by some of the artists employed. |
| Dudley Zoo and Castle |
On A459 in town centre |
Set in 40 acres of wooded grounds, the zoo contains a
comprehensive collection of wildlife from all over the world. There is a children's
corner, and other attractions with a special appeal to the young, including a farmyard
housing rare breeds of sheep, pigs, goats and poultry. A miniature railway gives rides,
and a chairlift takes visitors up to Dudley Castle. Only the stone keep, gatehouse and
parts of the curtain wall remain of the 13th century castle, but there is also a range of
Tudor buildings, including the Great Hall, living quarters, kitchens, pantry and buttery. |
| St Mary's Guildhall |
Coventry city centre |
Coventry's Guildhall dates from the 14th century and
although its timber roof was destroyed by bombs in the Second World War the carved figures
and bosses on the ceiling in the Great Hall date from the reign of Richard III. One of the
finest features is the North Window which was installed together with the Arras Tapestry
in 1500. |
| St. Philip's Cathedral |
Colmore Row, in centre of Birmingham |
Birmingham's Cathedral contains four great
stained-glass windows designed by Edward Burne-Jones. The cathedral was built in the 18th
century in the English Baroque style, to which were added a number of features such as
terrifying faces above the west doors. |
| Sandwell Valley Country Park |
Off A41 at West Bromwich |
Sandwell Hall was built by the Earls of Dartmouth on
the site of a 12 century priory which was demolished at the Dissolution. The Hall was
demolished in 1927, but the home farm of the estate is restored as a small holding typical
of the 1900s with long horn cattle, black pigs and other old breeds. |
| Sutton Park |
Off A5127 at Sutton Coldfield |
At the time of the Domesday Book, Sutton Park was a
Royal Hunting Ground; now it is a 3 square mile museum of the English countryside. Henry
VIII was persuaded to grant the park to the local people and set up a trust to protect the
land. In the east there is an encampment of the ancient Britons; in the west lies a well
preserved stretch of Roman Street. |
