A COMPLETE to scale historic model showing how Rowley Regis and the surrounding area looked in the 1880s has found a new home.

The 3D masterpiece of accuracy and detail, mounted and presented in a four by four foot glass display case, has been gifted to the Christian Heritage Centre, in Bell End, where it will go on display.

A labour of love for Blackheath resident Melvyn Jackson, the creator said it involved three years of research, as well as an obvious great deal of patience and skill to bring about its construction.

The model reveals that at that time there were about 30 pits, numerous churches and chapels, schools and 42 public houses in the district.

In spite of this, the area was still predominantly rural, with coal mines set in cornfields and grazing land.

Stone quarries, marl holes and brick works were a prominent feature of the area and are all clearly marked together, with the many workshops and the beginnings of the larger industrial undertakings that were eventually to so dominated the landscape.

The Christian Heritage Centre’s Roland Burrows, minister at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Old Hill, said: “We are extremely pleased with this valuable new addition to our collection as we are most grateful to Mr Jackson for gifting it to us.”

For more information about the Christian Heritage Centre visit www.christianheritagecentre.org.uk.

Based in Providence Chapel, the heritage centre is open for visits from schools, historical societies, church groups, clubs, and uniformed organisations.

The centre will next open on Saturday (October 7) for two short lectures at 2pm and 3pm on 'Martin Luther and the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation'.

In November, the centre is open on Saturday 4, between 1.30am and 4pm, before the last opening of the year – which will include a second-hand book sale on Saturday December 2, from 2pm until 5pm.

Mr Burrows added: “All are welcome to see this unique exhibition, showing the vast impact and significance of our Christian heritage, both nationally and locally.”