Museum of the Jewellery Quarter
From Citypedia Birmingham
The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is a museum in Hockley, Birmingham which was originally a Jewellery factory.
The Museum has preserved the original workshop, and tells the story of the 200 year old Jewellery Quarter and the ancient craft skills still practised in the workshop that make this area the centre of the British jewellery industry.
The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is a branch of the Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery.
Tel: 0121 554 3598
Admission: Free
Opening Times:
open all year round Tuesday - Sunday 11.30am - 4pm (closed Sundays and Mondays except for Bank Holiday Mondays)
History
For over 80 years the family-run firm of Smith & Pepper produced jewellery from the factory that is now the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter.
When the elderly proprietors of the Smith & Pepper jewellery manufacturing firm decided to retire in 1981 they simply ceased trading and locked the door.
Tools were left strewn on benches; grubby overalls were hung on the coat hooks; and dirty teacups were abandoned alongside jars of marmite and jam on the shelf.
In the eighty years before its closure little changed with the working practices or equipment used within the family-owned business.
