A preserved Victorian factory in the Jewellery Quarter that manufactured coffin fittings and funeral furniture for over a century. The building is largely intact as it was on the day it closed in 1998: the same machinery, the same cramped workrooms, the same clocking-in system. It is now a museum, managed by the Birmingham Conservation Trust.
Guided tours take visitors through the factory floor, the manager's office, the polishing rooms, and the packing department. The atmosphere is extraordinary — the combination of the dark, metallic smell of the factory and the nature of what was made here produces something genuinely affecting. Tours must be booked in advance. This is one of the hidden gems of Birmingham's museum offer and far better than many better-known attractions in the city.