This is St. Paul's Church in the Parish of Weetslade, in the small village of Dudley, Northumberland, England.  This is where the coalminers and their families worshipped.  My Clark ancestors lived in this village for almost one hundred years.   In 1883 it was decided that a mission church was needed in Dudley.

The church cost £200 and was completed 11 May 1886, the builder was a local man Mr Gray who later migrated to Canada. The church was designed by W.S Hicks

St Paul's, Dudley, was built as a mission chapel of Killingworth and dedicated in 1886 by Bishop Wilberforce. The district had been known as Weetslade (vale of the willows) until the Dudley pit, named after the owner's son, opened in 1854 and gave its name to the village. The parish was created in 1970 taking in parts of Killingworth, North Gosforth and Seghill.

Since the closure of the pit in 1977 the parish has become a residential area, most of its workers traveling to Tyneside. [The Newcastle Diocesan Gazetteer (1982), page 21.]

One of the rare photos remaining of Dudley.

A capped mine pit exit