October 2007 saw the one hundredeth anniversary since the foundation stone was laid for St. Joseph’s Church.
During those hundred years St. Joseph’s has been the much loved place of worship for generations of Catholics, many of whom were baptised, married and indeed buried here.
The church escaped unscathed during the war years but suffered a great deal of damage due to subsidence caused by the vast amount of coal mining in the area. It was rumoured that the subsidence was so bad that during a Requiem Mass, the main door moved and jammed which meant that the undertaker had no choice other than to carry the coffin almost on its side, out of church.
Some compensation was paid out by the National Coal Board at that time but it is evident that the subsidence still carried on for some time. In fact it has been pointed out recently that the church leans slightly to the left, as viewed from the road.
Since the church was built a number of alterations has taken place, some of which, in the opinion of some, spoiled the original beauty and graceful dignity of this early Edwardian church.
All, however, was not lost because work commenced in June 2007 to refurbish this beautiful church. The inside has a brand new face-lift, from lighting to carpeting and everything else in between.

Outside saw the demolition of a somewhat unattractive porch, added in the 1960’s, to make way for new entrance hall and meeting room with toilet and kitchen facilities.

The first photo shows St. Joseph’s when it was first built and the second of how it looked from the 1960’s until June 2007. The captions to the rest of the photos tell their own story

Work on the refurbishment was due to take place in April 2007 but was delayed.

But the second week of June not only saw the arrival of the work force but also the worst rainfall on record.

However, it wasn’t long before the church entrance was changed forever from what you see in the picture below.