Bowburn
Encyclopedia : B : BO : BOW : Bowburn
Bowburn is a village in the City of Durham,County Durham, in England. It is part of the Cassop-cum-Quarrington parish. It is situated a short distance to the south-east of Durham, on the A177.
Bowburn is named after the shape of the small burn that runs through it. It's situated between Coxhoe to the south, and Shincliffe to the north. Originally a small farming hamlet, a number of coal mines were sunk near here in the 19th century, including one called “Bowburn Pit” in 1840. However extensive development did not begin till an entirely new Bowburn Colliery began to be sunk in 1906. This year, in 2006, the village is celebrating the centenary of that sinking, the real beginnings of Bowburn as a pit village.
Like Coxhoe, Quarrington Hill, Cassop, Kelloe, West Cornforth, the Trimdons, and Ferryhill, Bowburn shares much of its history with the coal industry.
The first Bowburn pit was one of several sunk in the Quarrington and Coxhoe areas. It was close to the terminus of the Durham Branch of the Clarence Railway. The pit was a small concern, worked first by Robson and Jackson and then the West Hetton Coal Company. It closed in the 1850's.
The second Bowburn Colliery was sunk in 1906 by the Bell Bros., with the first coal drawn in 1908. It merged with Tursdale colliery in 1931 and grew to be one of the largest in the Durham coalfield, with about 2950 employees in 1958. Hardly anything remains of the colliery complex which closed in July 1967. The colliery yard is now the site of the Bowburn South Industrial Estate.
Durham Miners' Gala or "the big meeting" used to see large unions of men marching into town as Bowburn was en-route for some surrounding pit villages. Local residents are currently working to have Bowburn’s miners’ banners restored and a new one produced to be paraded at the Gala.
Following the closure of the colliery and latterly the Cape Minerals Works, Bowburn declined. More recently the location of the village close to the A1(M) junction 61 has meant that the village has become a prime site for new commuter housing and industrial estates.
Much of the housing in Bowburn is still relatively low cost in terraces or on post-war council estates to the North of the village. However there has been significant development of owner occupied housing along the eastern edge of the village, and on the old secondary school site. Durham City Council has recently approved plans to demolish some housing on the northern estate, to be replaced by a mixture of housing association and private housing.
One claim to fame is Bowburn's parish church, built in 1963 which wouldn't look out of place in the Tate Modern. It has a detached spire commonly described as a 'rocket' standing alongside the main church building. The Church building is no longer used for public worship due to the poor condition of the building with Anglican worship instead taking place at the Methodist Church on Durham Road. It is hoped that the church can be rebuilt while retaining the spire from the original design.
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.