New website exploring local history in Halesowen and Black Country launched (From Halesowen News)

New website exploring local history in Halesowen and Black Country launched

12:51pm Monday 30th August 2010 in News

A new website exploring the history of Halesowen, Cradley Heath and the Black Country giving local people an insight into the past has been launched.

The website www.blackcountryhistory.org showcases the industrial history and provides visitors with access to archive information such as maps, documents and photographs, in addition to images and information of objects and artworks housed in local museum collections.

This digital project brought together archives and museum partners from each of the Black Country authorities including Dudley Council’s archives and local history service, inviting them to list their most treasured and popular items.

The website includes more than 23,000 images, including photographs of more than 4,000 museum objects, many of which are not on display and which have been photographed especially for the website - giving users a glimpse of object and artwork collections currently in storage.

A range of themes and topics are covered on the website, from metalworking to religious buildings - offering an easy to use entry point for researchers, local history enthusiasts and local people keen to explore the history of the Black Country conurbation.

The website also offers visitors the chance to find resources relating to some of the many great inventors, philanthropists, authors, artists and industrialists from the Black Country, including authors such as the great Jerome K Jerome and nationally renowned nurse Sister Dora.

Councillor David Simms, cabinet member for housing, libraries and adult learning, said: “The website gives a real insight into the vast amount of materials and the diversity of collections held by Dudley’s archives service and is a great way to search materials from home.”

For people who would like to meet some of the staff who work at the council-run service, they can visit an exhibition which will be held at Stourbridge town hall on September 11 as part of heritage open day.

Funded by Renaissance West Midlands, the website which has been under development for the past 18 months and includes information from Dudley archives and local history service, Dudley museums service, Sandwell community history and archives service, Sandwell museums service, Walsall local history centre, Walsall museums service, Wolverhampton archives and local studies and Wolverhampton arts and museums service.

For more information go to: www.blackcountryhistory.org