Blakesley Hall is a survivor from a Birmingham that mostly vanished: a late Tudor, timber-framed house standing in what is now suburban Yardley. Its black-and-white exterior, garden, and furnished rooms give a domestic counterpoint to the city's better-known industrial and civic sights.
The hall is most rewarding if you are interested in architecture or in the rural villages that were absorbed into modern Birmingham. It is outside the centre and not essential on a first pass, but it is a strong second-tier museum with a clear sense of place.