THE BLACKCOUNTRY

VisitingThe Past

The geology of the Black Country has been very important in shaping its history. The natural resources found under the ground have brought wealth to the area for hundreds of years. Limestone layers were laid down millions of years ago when the area was part of a shallow sea. The shells of millions of tiny creatures compacted to form the limestone. Coal was formed from the remains of prehistoric trees. Fossil remains such as ammonites, corals and trilobites are well represented in our catalogues, some dating from 190 million years ago.

The Black Country gained its name back in the mid 19th century due to the pollution from the thick smoke from these many thousands of ironworking foundries and forges in the English West Midlands conurbation. The region was also known for its coal mining, which caused soot from burning the coal. This caused most of the buildings to be layered in soot, giving everything a black look. During the industrial revolution back in the 19th century, the area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation.

The Black Country provided the coal and iron that transformed Britain into the worldʼs industrial furnace, but its image was not a positive one for the outside world.

In the early 19th century, writers and

BILSTON, BLACKHEATH, BRIERLEY HILL, BROWNHILLS, COSELEY, CRADLEY, DARLASTON, DUDLEY, GORNAL, GREAT BRIDGE,

HALESOWEN, KINGWINGFORD, LYE, NETHERTON, OLDBURY, QUARRY BANK, ROWLEY REGIS, SEDGLEY, SMETHWICK,

STOURBRIDGE, TIPTON, WALSALL, WARLEY, WEDNESDAY, WEDNESFIELD, WEST BROMWICH, WILLENHALL, WORDSLEY

INDUSTRY & POISONTHE WORLD OUTSIDE THE BLACK COUNTRY

Once the Black Country was one of the most important places in the world. It changed the lives of ordinary people, providing a living for the majority. In the early 19th century, writers and artists portrayed it in prints and prose as a poisoned and desecrated area with few redeeming features.

In 1830, James Nasmyth walked to the capital of the Black Country, Dudley from Coalbrookdale.

“The Black Country is anything but picturesque. The Earth seems to have turned inside out. The coal which has been drawn from below ground is blazing on the surface. The district is crowded with iron surfaces, puddling furnaces, and coal-pit engine furnaces. By day and by night the country is glowing with fire, and the smoke of the ironworks hovers over it. There is a rumbling and clanking of iron forges and mills. Workmen covered with smut, and with fierce white eyes, are seen moving about amongst the glowing iron and the dull thud of forge-hammers.

Amidst these flaming, smoky, clanging works, I beheld the remains of what had once been happy farmhouses, now ruined and deserted. The ground beneath them had sunk by the working out of the coal, and they were falling to pieces. They had in former times been surrounded by clumps of trees: but only the skeletons of them remained, dead, black and leafless. The grass had been parched and killed by the vapours of sulphurous acid thrown out by the chimneys; and every herbaceous object was of a ghastly gray - the emblem of vegetable death in its saddest aspect...”

THE WHITE SLAVES OF ENGLAND

The industry was now demonised. The English painter John Martin, painted an enormous oil painting of what he perceived of the Black Country at night. The End of the World (1851-1853) takes us to the very gates of hell. It expresses the horror John Martin had felt when he travelled through the Black Country at night. The fires consuming civilisation had become the fiery furnaces of industry, swallowing up the 19th century Britain. The industrialised world was collapsing on itself. Martin said that he couldnʼt imagine anything more terrible, even in the regions of everlasting punishment. For many, this picture of Britain had become unbearable.

The painting is now located at the Tate Gallery in London.

Canal Boat DockThe thousands of boats that used to work the Black Country canals all needed constant maintenance. In this area there were many working boat yards, or docks, like this one, where boats were built and repaired. They were busy, cluttered places not unlike a modern scrap yard as it was common practice to break wooden boats, salvaging the ironwork. Nothing on the boat dock was wasted and most of these buildings are made from reclaimed boat timbers.

INTO THE 21st CENTURYTHE BLACK COUNTRY TODAY

Over the last 60 years, the Black Country has changed so much, it is beyond recognition. The 20th century saw a decline in coal-mining and the industry finally came to an end in 1968 with the closure of Baggaridge Colliery near Sedgley. iThere are a few traces remaining of what was once the greatest industry and mining, which dominated most of the West MIdlands. It is hard to imagine how things were, and how people used to live in those days. Since the clean air legislation, the Black Country is no longer black. The air is much more cleaner and the green vegetation has now grown back.

The Black Country changed the lives of many people, providing employment for the local people and for many of the settlers who moved to the Black Country. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Black Country suffered its biggest economic blow, when unemployment largely soared up because of the closure of large factories. Much but not all of the area now suffers from high unemployment and parts of it are amongst the most economically deprived communities in the UK.

The ChemistThe shop is a replica of Mr Harold Emile Dooʼs shop in Halesowen Road, Netherton. It was common in those days for a chemist to make his own remedies and Mr Doo had a considerable reputation locally for his home made medicines and pills. A fascinating range of early twentieth century cosmetics are displayed in the original mahogany cabinets.