The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is on Vyse Street in the Jewellery Quarter.
Museum of the Jewellery Quarter on Vyse Street (December 2012). Photography by Elliott Brown
75-80 Vyse Street
Jewellery Quarter
Birmingham
B18 6HA
0121 348 8140
Go here for the official Museum of the Jewellery Quarter website.
History of the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter
The museum occupies the former Smith & Pepper jewellery manufacturing firms premises which closed for good in 1981. They ceased trading, leaving the premises as a time capsule unaware that they would be leaving it for future generations. The museum opened here in 1992 and is a branch of the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery. Smith & Pepper was founded by Charles Smith and his uncle Edwin Pepper in 1899 and specialised in gold bracelets and other jewellery until it closed down in 1981. When the company closed, all the tools, machinery and papers were left behind.
Museum of the Jewellery Quarter on Vyse Street (December 2012). Photography by Elliott Brown
It is a Grade II listed building (from 2004). No 75 Vyse Street was built in 1909 by George E. Pepper for F. Moore.No 77 Vyse Street was built in 1914, also by Pepper. No 79 Vyse Street was rebuilt in 1990. The building had alterations during the 20th Century. Built of red brick and ashlar stone dressings. No's 77 and 78 was the former Smith and Pepper Works. The museum to the Birmingham Jewellery Quarter is located in two late 19th Century manufactories. The Birmingham Museums Trust took over the running of the museum from Birmingham City Council in 2012.
Museum of the Jewellery Quarter on Vyse Street (December 2019). Photography by Elliott Brown