Birmingham Museum And Art Gallery | Visit Birmingham

Birmingham Museum And Art Gallery

3 Congreve Passage,  Chamberlain Square, Birmingham B3 3DA, England.

There's lots to see in this beautiful building and it's a great way to quickly learn about Birmingham and it's history without it even feeling like learning as its fascinating. Not just on a  local level but on the world stage too when Birmingham was a tradesman's city with a once great manufacturing industry. Kids really enjoy the exhibits here learning while exploring and the exhibits are changing regularly so it never becomes boring to them.

The hallways are bright and airy so there's plenty of room to stand back and admire the sights. You can view a diverse and world class collection of art including timeless renaissance masterpieces and works by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

More unusual items include the iconic HP sauce factory sign saved from the demolition and The Sultanganj Buddha which is a copper statue that dates back to 500AD It was found by workers during construction on a railway in India in 1861 It was brought to Birmingham so it could set example and be an inspiration to silversmiths and other metal workers in the city.

The guy who discovered the Buddha E. B. Harris, shipped it here in 1864, no doubt with the Fedex of the day. Today it resides in the new gallery that tells stories about different faiths a subject close to Birmingham's multicultural heart. The museum also holds the most amazing Pre-Raphaelite painting collection and also is home to the bedazzling Anglo-Saxon gold stash known as- the Staffordshire Hoard.

In fact there are hundreds of interesting artefacts here, fabulous displays including ancient arts formal over the world including Egyptian mummies, exquisite pottery from South America pre Columbus days and the recent Leonardo da Vinci exhibition was a fascinating insight the multi talented genius.

One could easily spend the day just mooching around. Areas of interests covered vary but you should expect to learn about  fine art, jewellery, natural history, ethnography, ceramics, metalwork, archaeology, local and industrial history. The Edwardian Tea Room was an unexpected delight transporting you back in time with delicious treats at very reasonable prices. There's also a great library shop with helpful staff its definitely worth a visit and its free. The main entrance can be accessed via Chamberlain Square not far from the big clock tower affectionately known the locals as Big Brum.

There's a lot of redevelopment going on around this area at the time of writing and different roads closed off so my advice would be head there from the City side of town and you should be ok.

Bearing that in mind and your coming by car preferred places for parking would be Snow Hill Station on Livery St, B3 2BJ with a ten minute walk and about the same but uphill if you park at The NCP Birmingham Palisades on Hill Street, Birmingham 

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