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Newman Brothers at The Coffin Works is Birmingham's latest heritage attraction. It opened on 28th October 2014 after a fifteen-year campaign to save the building and raise the funds to transform the disused Newman Brothers Coffin Furniture Factory factory in to a heritage attraction. Located in Fleet Street in the Jewellery Quarter conservation area, Birmingham, England, the building is Grade II * listed, and was designed by Roger Harley in 1892. Construction of the building was completed two years later in 1894. Newman Brothers manufactured coffin furniture at the factory between 1894 until 1998, when the last owner, Joyce Green, and the remaining workforce set down their tools and left for the very last time. The business was dissolved the following year in 1999. ==History== The Newman Brothers, brass founders and metal coffin fittings manufacturers, moved into the works in 1894. The company was set up by Alfred Newman and his two sons: Horace and George 〔 During its time at the factory, the company produced some of the finest coffin furniture in the world that was used in the funerals for Sir Winston Churchill, Joseph Chamberlain and Diana, Princess of Wales. The owners and managers would have entered the building through the front entrance of the building whilst the poorer workforce would enter via the gated cart entrance. In the 1960s, the original single-storey range was demolished and replaced with a two storey brick building containing managerial, electroplating, warehousing and barrelling facilities.〔''Design Statement Part 1'', planning application reference number C/03367/08/LBC. Submitted to Birmingham City Council on 20 June 2008. Retrieved 16 September 2008〕 At its peak, the firm employed 100 people.〔 In the 1950s, the company was exporting products internationally to West Africa, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, the Caribbean, Canada and Malta. When the firm closed the factory in 1999, it was one of only three remaining coffin furniture manufacturers in England. In 2000, the building received Grade II * listed status from English Heritage. In March 2001, Birmingham Conservation Trust carried out a feasibility study on the building and became worried about the threat of redevelopment and possible loss of the building. As a result, they appealed to Advantage West Midlands who purchased the building in 2002 and agreed to fund the Trust in their scheme to bring the building back into use.〔 In 2003, the factory was one of the candidates on the first series of ''Restoration'' in late 2003.〔 It did not receive enough votes to reach the final. In 2007, plans were announced by the Trust and a planning application was submitted on 20 June 2008 for the refurbishment of the factory building to create a visitor's centre and office space. If approved, the museum would be the only funereal museum in the United Kingdom.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Newman Brothers Coffin Furniture Factory」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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