St Paul

St Paul's was built when the villages of Monkseaton and Cullercoats were separate communities. Whitley was a small group of farms with three large houses namely Park House, Belvedere House and Whitley Hall. The church was built to serve the rising population of Cullercoats by the then fifth Duke of Northumberland. The tower was built to accommodate six bells which were a gift by Sir Mark Charles Palmer a local ship builder who lived at Whitley Park. The bells were augmented to a ring of eight in 1913 by the Gofton Family who were local builders and renowned bell ringers. As the population of Cullercoats increased a new church was built in the village by the sixth Duke of Northumberland and thus St Paul's was predesignated the church of Whitley Bay. There are several stained glass windows within the church presented by local dignitaries that are worthy of inspection. There are two new windows which were installed to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Saint Paul's. As well as graves there is a war memorial dedicated to 83 men of the village who died during the First World Waar located on the east wall of the church.