Dudley, city (1991 pop. 186,513) and metropolitan district, W central England. Dudley's famed iron, coal, and limestone industries began declining c.1870. Other industries include engineering works, steelworks, metallurgy, glass cutting, textiles, and leatherworking. Isolated on an elevated site, Dudley was enlarged in 1966. The ruins of Dudley Castle, around which the area developed in the 13th cent., are surrounded by a park with a zoo. It has education and technical colleges. The Black Country Living Museum depicts the Industrial Revolution.