Edwin Richards was born in Wednesbury in 1820. He was very interested in art, and gradually gathered a fine collection of over 300 paintings in his home, “The Limes” at Wood Green.

Most of the works were by contemporary English artists, but his love of landscape paintings meant that there were several pictures by Dutch and Flemish masters such as Keokkeok and Verboeckhoven.

His wish to give the collection to Wednesbury had come to nothing when he died in 1880. Five years later, his widow died and she left the paintings to the town.

Definite proposals towards building the gallery to house them were made. Mrs Richards had given £2000 towards the erection of a building, £1000 to pay the salary of a caretaker, and £500 for re-gilding frames.

The actual cost of the gallery was £5821. By May 1890 enough money had been raised by local people for work to start on the building. West Bromwich architects Wood and Kendrick produced the design, and Henry Willcock of Wolverhampton built it.

The gallery is built in pressed red brick and terracotta. It was then, and remains today a handsome addition to Wednesbury. There are four panels on the front of the building, with heads of Sir Christopher Wren to represent Architecture, Sir Joshua Reynolds for Art, John Flaxman for Sculpture, and Sir Isaac Newton for Science. In the two niches above the main door are busts of Alderman Williams and Alderman Lloyd, both mayors of Wednesbury and chairmen of the Art Gallery Committee.

Over the next few years, further paintings were bought and donated to the collection. Local collectors also lent large numbers of paintings to the gallery.

Between the two world wars, however, the gallery failed to keep pace with developments in the museum world, and became less popular. After the last war a large part of the collection was sold, and the Council and various local societies used the building as offices.

In 1966 various schemes were put forward to make use of the gallery, but it was only in 1972 that the building was renovated, decorated and modernised.

Wednesbury Museum & Art Gallery was officially re opened in June, 1973 by the Mayor of West Bromwich, Alderman S.E.T. Martin.