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Newman Brothers Coffin Furniture Factory
Photo: Erebus555, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
An industrial heritage museum in the Jewellery Quarter, dedicated to educating visitors about the social and industrial history and importance of the site which was in operation as a coffin furniture factory from 1894 to its closure in 1998. Ornaments made by the Newman Brothers decorated the coffins of Sir Winston Churchill, Joseph Chamberlain, and many others. Many of the historic rooms, among which the "stamp" room, can be viewed and visited. Guided tours are highly recommended and start at 1PM, 2PM and 3PM.
Newman Brothers at The Coffin Works is a museum in the Newman Brothers Coffin Furniture Factory building in the Jewellery Quarter conservation area in Birmingham, England. The museum educates visitors about the social and industrial history of the site, which operated from 1894–1998 as a coffin furniture factory. The museum opened in October 2014 after a fifteen-year campaign by the Birmingham Conservation Trust to save the factory building, which ceased trading in 1998, and raise the funds to transform it into a heritage attraction. Located at 13–15 Fleet Street, the building is Grade II* listed.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
The new library building at Centenary Square was opened in September 2013 to replace the 1970 Birmingham Central Library nearby (demolished 2016). It is the single largest public library in the UK and one of the largest in Europe. The building was designed by the Dutch firm Mecanoo architecten, and took four years to build. It includes an intricate facade decoration, despite the very simple form of the building, as well as a number of innovative sustainable features. To explore the building take the lift to the top (9th) floor to see the Shakespeare Memorial Room, a fine wooden panelled library, which used to be in the city's library built in 1882. There is also a viewing window to look over the city. There are outside garden spaces on the 7th and 3rd floors which give different city views. The four lower floors house the public library, laid out in impressive style.
Completed in 1966, it is the second tallest structure in Birmingham at 152 m, and serves solely as the support for transmission antennas mounted atop it. It has no viewing platform or other accessible floors at all, but it can serve as a landmark and orientation point as it is clearly visible from many parts of the city. Its square profile sets it apart from many other similar structures in the world.
A war memorial built in 1925 for the 12,320 Birmingham citizens killed in the First World War.
Birmingham Institute of Art and Design
Built in 1885 in High Victorian red brick style as a new seat for the Birmingham School of Art, the building retains its original function as its original occupier survived several educational institution mergers and is now the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design within Birmingham City University. The building itself is Grade I listed.
Large museum with some local history, several temporary exhibitions and large permanent collection, including an extensive collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Home to part of the stunning Anglo-Saxon hoard, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold metal work discovered just north of Birmingham in 2009. Includes the Gas Hall and Waterhall Gallery of Modern Art.
As of August 2025, only some galleries are open, due to refurbishment.
The Rep
Well-established theatre putting on classical and modern plays. Supports new work through The Door.