A taste of the local industry
The Black Country came into existence when the digging for and use of coal drove an intense, consuming wave of industry and invention which turned the entire landscape black.
This gallery highlights moments in that landscape journey from green to black.
We focus on the story of the World’s oldest Iron & Steel Institute (The South Staffordshire Iron and Steel Institute) that was founded in the Saracens’ Head public house in Dudley and on the beginnings of industrial scale glass making.
Discover amazing pieces of Dudley's history including a hammer made with a piece of the iron from the original James Watt beam engine - the engine that changed the world.