Historic Victorian library rebuilt brick by brick

5 hours ago

Josh SandifordWest Midlands

News image — A crowd gathers outside the restored Woodside Library at Black Country Living Museum ahead of its opening to visitors on Wednesday

Black Country Living Museum A large group of around 50 people stand together outside the front of a grand Victorian red brick building with ornate gables, a central tower and a bright blue arched doorway. The words "Free Library" are carved in stone above the entrance. The building is three storeys tall and flanked by other smaller buildings on what appears to be a recreated historic street. — A crowd gathers outside the restored Woodside Library at Black Country Living Museum ahead of its opening to visitors on Wednesday

A Victorian library that served communities in Dudley for more than a century has been rebuilt brick by brick at Black Country Living Museum.

Woodside Library, originally on Stourbridge Road, was gifted to the people of Dudley by the Earl of Dudley in 1894. It closed in 2008 and stood empty for a decade before being dismantled and moved to the museum site in 2018.

The restored building opens to visitors on Wednesday as part of a multi-million-pound development at the attraction which recreates life in the 1940s to 1960s.

The library's shelves are stacked with more than 6,500 donated and collected books.

The story presented to visitors centres on 1963, when Dudley's libraries introduced colourful new paperbacks, expanded gramophone collections and launched children's reading initiatives, the museum said.

The museum is also appealing for donations of 1960s-era books to complete the library's collection.

Black Country Living Museum A woman with shoulder-length brown hair and tortoiseshell glasses smiles at the camera. She is wearing a grey coat over a black top with gold buttons. She is standing in front of a red brick wall. — Carol King says the library is 'the jewel in the crown' of the museum's 1940s-60s development

"Woodside Library forms the jewel in the crown of our extensive 1940s-60s development," said Carol King, deputy chief executive at Black Country Living Museum.

"We're incredibly proud to have worked with so many communities, investors and stakeholders to save this iconic building and bring it back to life here at the museum."

The library is the tallest building in the museum's new 1940s-60s town.

The wider development was supported by a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of more than £15m.

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