The parish of
Cassop cum Quarrington (more commonly known as Cassop cum Quarrington
with Bowburn, and abbreviated to CQB) consists of three villages,
Cassop, Quarrington Hill and Bowburn and two hamlets, Old Cassop and
Old Quarrington.
Originally the parish was part of Kelloe and, until the end of the 19th
century consisted of the two hamlets of Old Cassop and Old Quarrigton.
Towards the end
of the 19th century two collieries, Cassop Vale and East Hetton, were
opened and the villages of Cassop and Quarrington Hill were developed
to satisfy the housing needs of the miners. As these villages grew it
was felt that another parish should be created to serve the spiritual
need of those living in these new villages, and so in 1869 a new
parish, Cassop cum Quarrington was formed,and the Church of Saint Paul
was built at Quarrington Hill.
In 1906 a colliery as opened at Bowburn, which up till then had
consisted entirely of farms, the colliery owners built houses for the
miners but over the years as the colliery developed still further, it
became necessary, especially in the 1950s, for more housing, and a new
council estate was built. Bowburn became the largest of the three
villages.
As Bowburn grew
it became apparent that the church at Quarrington Hill, which was three
miles distant by road, and did not have an adequate transport system on
a Sunday, could not serve the needs of the people of Bowburn, and so in
1926 a mission church, Saint John's was opened,and was served by the
clergy of CQB.
In the late 1950s a priest was appointed to the parish, who felt St.
John's was not large enough to accommodate the growing congregation. He
had plans drawn up to build a new church and church hall at the north
end of the village within the council estate.
The mission church was closed and as there was no Anglican place of
worship in Bowburn, the parish purchased two second hand
coaches (immediately named Samson and Delilah) and members of the
congregation were transported, free of charge, to St Paul's for their
Sunday worship.
Work started on
the church hall, much of the preliminary work being done by voluntary
labour.The church hall was opened, as a community facility in the early
1960s but as finances ran out the church was not finished until the
late 1970s.
The Church of Christ the King opened on 26th October 1976. Bowburn, the
largest of the three villages now had and Anglican place of
worship.However it was felt it would do spiritual harm to the parish if
the two churches had completely separate Sunday services, so it was
decided that the Sung Eucharist would be held on alternate weeks
in each church, and Evensong taking place in the church which did not
have the Sung Eucharist.
This arrangement
continued until 1990. By this time, Diocesan representatives informed
the parish that the church of St. Paul's had fallen into such a state
of disrepair that the church should be closed.St Paul's was closed in
1991 and demolished in1993.
However it soon
become apparent that there were faults in the design and
construction of the church of Christ the King at Bowburn. Various
architects were consulted and plans were drawn up for repairs.In 1997
it was announced that the congregation , (if they could raise the
money) would be allowed to repair the church or build a new one.
Mr Malcolm
Cundick of Alpha Architects was approached and asked to design a new
church.Fund raising began immediately so that, enough money would be
put in reserve to pay all of the bills that might be incurred through
consulting an architect and any other specialist that might have
to be employed.Plans have been submitted and have received
approval from the Diocesan Advisory Committee for the care of churches
and the Diocesan Pastoral Committee also from Durham city Council.
On the 24th May demolition of the church of Christ the King began.
As stated all bills are paid. Fund raising is ongoing. An application was made for a grant to the Big Lottery Fund.