Black Country Living Museum's expansion backed after £30m investment

The cash boost from a range of supporters – including from the West Midlands Combined Authority – means the museum can undergo the development that will expand its size by a third.

A brand-new visitor welcome centre, learning spaces, industrial quarter, and an historic town will join the museum thanks to The Forging Ahead project - the largest and most ambitious development since the museum opened in 1978.

The first phase of the project will feature 22 historic buildings and structures, including the recreation of Wolverhampton’s iconic Elephant and Castle pub.

Dudley’s Woodside Library will also be transported to the museum and be rebuilt brick-by-brick as one of the main landmarks of the new, historic town.

The new attractions will whisk people back in time to the Black Country's post-war heydays, showing visitors what life was like in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, and providing the capacity for half a million visitors a year.

Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), said: “The museum’s Forging Ahead project is an incredibly exciting one and I’m pleased the WMCA has made a commitment to intervene and enable this new heritage and cultural asset to proceed.

“The new historic town should be quite the attraction, especially the iconic pub and library that are being painstakingly rebuilt brick-by-brick.

“The museum is right to be ambitious because it has the potential to create a real jewel in the Black Country’s crown as well as exciting opportunities for new jobs, volunteering and skills development.

“The museum already does a fabulous job of capturing and conveying the Black Country’s amazingly rich heritage and these new additions to the museum estate will take it to another level.”

Forging Ahead will create more than 140 new jobs at the Museum and within the local area.

The WMCA Board was told how the investment would support the museum’s vision to create a world class heritage attraction in the heart of the Black Country and how it would help grow the visitor market around the tourism cluster at Dudley’s Castle Hill.

The project would also develop a significant tourism asset that could help support the region’s wider economy.

Andrew Lovett, chief executive officer at Black Country Living Museum, said: “Forging Ahead is now more important than ever to the future of the museum and our region. It provides added momentum to thrive once again for our community following the unprecedented challenge of the pandemic.

“The modern Black Country, with its rich global connections and diversity of people, is the enduring legacy of the 1940s to 60s. It is a legacy to be proud of.

"Forging Ahead provides a new stage upon which we can share new stories and celebrate the contribution of everyone who came to call the Black Country home during this period of history.

“I believe this vision is the will of the people we serve. We’re hugely grateful for the WMCA’s support and investment at a critical stage in our project.”

Councillor Mike Bird, WMCA portfolio holder for housing and land and leader of Walsall Council, said: “Supporting the museum in this way would yet again show how the WMCA is using the money it has secured from government to open up brownfield sites to recharge our industrial history, build new homes, grow our business and tourism sector and protect our green belt from unnecessary development.”

The major scheme has been backed by the WMCA alongside other donors including the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Capital Kickstart Fund, the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, and several other significant donors.

A spokesman from the museum added: "Development of the project has been able to continue whilst adjacent derelict land within the project compound was awaiting clearance, for which the generous funding from the WMCA will provide much needed support."