14 Iconic Buildings to Explore in West Midlands

Aston Hall is a magnificent seventeenth century red-brick mansion situated in a picturesque public park on the north side of Birmingham. The house was completed in April 1635, and is now Grade I listed. It sits in a large park, part of which became Villa Park, the home ground of the Aston Villa football club.It is now a community museum managed by the Birmingham Museums Trust and, following a major renovation completed in 2009, is open to the public during the summer months.

Blakesley Hall is one of the oldest Tudor Halls converted into a museum located in Birmingham, England. More than 400 years later, beautiful Blakesley is still a haven; secluded from the avenues of modern houses that lie beyond its gates. Most parts of the Blakesley Hall Mansion were damaged in a bomb blast a few years after the museum was inaugurated. However, the building was reconstructed using ancient furnishings from the inventory to recreate a structure closest to the original building.

Dudley Castle is a ruined medieval castle contained within Dudley Zoological Gardens. The castle was begun shortly after the Norman Conquest, destroyed by Henry II, rebuilt in the late 13th century, slighted by Parliament after the Civil War, and finally destroyed by fire in 1750.In the nineteenth and early twentieth century the site was used for fêtes and pageants. Today Dudley Zoo is located on its grounds. It is also a Grade I listed building. Localised structural problems lead to it being pl

Haden Hill House Museum in Cradley Heath is a late Victorian gentleman's residence furnished in period style, surrounded by 55 acres of award-winning parkland. Although the Victorian house is furnished as a museum with Victorian objects, Haden Old Hall is now largely a shell with some furniture and interpretation after it was damaged by fire and partly restored. It is now a perfect setting for the small and intimate wedding ceremonies.

The Library of Birmingham is a public library in Birmingham, England. It has been described as the largest public library in the United Kingdom, the largest public cultural space in Europe,and the largest regional library in Europe. 2,414,860 visitors came to the library in 2014 making it the 10th most popular visitor attraction in the UK.

The Birmingham Back to Backs are the city's last surviving court of back-to-back houses. They are preserved as examples of the thousands of similar houses that were built around shared courtyards, for the rapidly increasing population of Britain's expanding industrial towns. They are a very particular sort of British terraced housing. This sort of housing was deemed unsatisfactory, and the passage of the Public Health Act 1875 meant that no more were built; instead byelaw terraced houses took th

Wightwick Manor is a Victorian manor house located on Wightwick Bank, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is one of only a few surviving examples of a house built and furnished under the influence of the Aesthetic movement and Arts and Crafts movement. The house is in a grand version of the half-timbered vernacular style, of which the most famous original example is Little Moreton Hall over 40 miles to the north, in Cheshire.

The NEC Birmingham is the UK's No 1 venue for shows, exhibitions, meetings and events. It not only offers significant indoor space with integrated seating, but also offers a recently opened beach and lake for exhibitors and delegates to enjoy. It is one of the most accessible venues in the UK and, with Birmingham International Airport on its doorstep, offering great international transport connections.

Oak House in West Bromwich is a delightful half-timbered yeoman farmer's house built about 1620 with brick additions at the rear built in the 1650s as the family wealth and status grew. The Oak House Museum boasts some fine panelling and is furnished with 17th century furniture. The house is set in its own grounds with a children’s playground on site which is available to visitors during opening hours.

The Red House Glass Cone lies in the heart of the Glass Quarter, Stourbridge, West Midlands. It was built at the end of the 18th century and used for the manufacture of glass until 1936. It was used by the Stuart Crystal firm till 1936, when the company moved to a new facility at Vine Street It is now one of only four left in the United Kingdom and is currently maintained as a museum by Dudley Council.

Sarehole Mill is a Grade II listed water mill, in an area once called Sarehole, on the River Cole in Hall Green, Birmingham. It showcases the fascinating history of the Sarehole Mill where you can see the 18th-century splendour that influenced famed writer J.R.R. Tolkien. The Sarehole Mill also has connections with English manufacturer Matthew Boulton, who leased the mill between 1756 and 1761, using it to produce sheet metal used for button manufacturing.

Selly Manor is a timber framed building in Bournville, that was moved to its current site in 1916 by chocolate manufacturer and philanthropist George Cadbury. Selly Manor with medieval hall of Minworth Greaves to the left rear of the picture. Together with the adjacent Minworth Greaves, it is operated as Selly Manor Museum by Bournville Village Trust as a heritage site, community museum and as a venue for functions including weddings, for which it is licensed.

Soho House was the elegant home of the industrialist and entrepreneur Matthew Boulton from 1766 to 1809. The house has been beautifully restored and reflects the fashions and tastes of the late Georgian period. There's also the chance to see some of the products of Boulton's nearby factory where buttons and buckles, clocks and vases, and silver and Sheffield plate tableware were made and where he developed the steam engine in partnership with James Watt.

A majestic Grade II-listed building on the edge of the Jewellery District, which tells the story of Birmingham's last coffin-furniture factory and the Newman Brothers firm. Visitors can truly experience how this old Jewellery Quarter firm once operated on a day-to-day basis, producing some of the world’s finest coffin furniture, including the fittings for the funerals of Joseph Chamberlain, Winston Churchill and the Queen Mother.