Bowburn is a village in
County Durham, England. It is situated about to the south-east of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
, on the
A177, between
Coxhoe
Coxhoe is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated about south of Durham City centre. The civil parish also includes nearby Quarrington Hill. The electoral ward of Coxhoe stretches beyond the boundaries of the parish and has a total p ...
to the south-east, and
High Shincliffe
High Shincliffe is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated about two miles south-east of Durham City, on the A177 road to Stockton-on-Tees. The altitude of High Shincliffe is approximately , and it lies above the River Wear at S ...
to the north-west.
It is part of the
Cassop-cum-Quarrington parish.
History
Originally a small farming hamlet, named after the shape of the small burn that runs through it, Bowburn's history, like that of many other villages in the region, is linked closely to
coal mining. Several coal mines were sunk in the area during the 19th century but extensive development did not begin until an entirely new Bowburn Colliery began to be sunk in 1906. Bowburn therefore celebrated its 100th anniversary on 23 July 2006.
The first “Bowburn Colliery” was a shaft sunk in 1840 but failed to find workable coal.
The second Bowburn Colliery was sunk a few years later, south of there (near Park Hill), being 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 probably closed in about 1870.
The third and most famous Bowburn Colliery was sunk in 1906 by Bell Bros. Ltd., using the 1840 shaft as the ventilation upcast shaft (and, later, for manriding). Its first coal was drawn in 1908. It merged with
Tursdale colliery in 1931 and grew to be one of the largest in the Durham coalfield, working six seams and with over 2,500 employees in the 1950s. Meanwhile the village was growing around it. Hardly anything now remains of the colliery complex which closed in July 1967. The main colliery yard is now the site of the Bowburn South Industrial Estate.
The day of the annual
Durham Miners' Gala
The Durham Miners' Gala, founded by Pete Doherty, is a large annual gathering and labour festival held on the second Saturday in July in the city of Durham, England. It is associated with the coal mining heritage (and particularly that of miner ...
(also called "the Big Meeting") used to see large unions of men marching through the village, as Bowburn was ''en route'' to Durham for some surrounding
pit village
A pit village, colliery village or mining village is a settlement built by colliery owners to house their workers. The villages were built on the coalfields of Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution where new coal mines were developed in ...
s. Local residents have, with the help of th
Heritage Lottery Fund had two of Bowburn’s original miners’ banners restored and a new one produced to be paraded at the Gala. By September 2006, two of the restored banners were on display in Bowburn Community Centre, together with the new one (the "Centenary Banner"). This, with another new one designed by Bowburn Junior School pupils, was paraded for the first time at the 2006 Gala. They have paraded through the village and at the Miners’ Gala every year since then.
Other events also celebrated the village’s centenary year, including a party and firework display in Bowburn Park, exactly 100 years after
Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist. She spent much of her life exploring and mapping the Middle East, and became highl ...
(as daughter of the Chairman of Bell Brothers) cut the first sod on 23 July 1906 to commence the sinking of the downcast shaft.
Facilities
![Church of Christ the King reincarnation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Church_of_Christ_the_King_reincarnation.jpg)
Following the closure of the colliery and latterly the Cape Minerals Works, Bowburn declined. More recently the location of the village, near Durham City and close to the
A1(M)
A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in England. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major north–south road which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capit ...
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. However there has been significant development of owner occupied housing along the eastern edge of the village, and on the old secondary school site. From 2004, a village regeneration project began, involving the demolition of some council housing on the northern estate and the building of a mixture of housing association and private housing. As part of the regeneration project, the park was upgraded, with new football fields, an outdoor gym and an excellent children’s play area, as well as significant improvements to such community facilities as Bowburn Community Centre and the DJ Evans Youth Club (aka Bowburn Youth Project). A loca
community partnershiphas met monthly since the start of the regeneration project, and welcomes all residents interested in contributing to the improvement of the village and surrounding area.
A village newsletter
is produced by a local community group, Bowburn Village Celebration, and delivered by volunteers throughout the village four times a year.
One of Bowburn's claims to fame was its parish church, Christ the King, built between 1963 and 1978.
It had a detached spire described locally as 'The Rocket' standing alongside the main church building, which featured a spiked dome roof which led some to call it "The Pineapple Church". The church ceased to be used for public worship due to its poor condition and was demolished in June 2007, while the adjacent spire fell over due to gales on 3 October 2009.
In May 2008 construction of a new church building began on the site, completed in Autumn 2008.
[
]
Bowburn currently (2022) has its own primary school, formed by administratively amalgamating the infant and nursery school with the junior school in 2019. A new single-site Primary School was built adjacent to the old Junior School, and opened in April 2021. Secondary pupils attend a number of schools outside the village. Since the closure of the village’s own secondary school, most pupils attended
Durham Johnston Comprehensive School
Durham Johnston Comprehensive School is a secondary school in Durham, England.
Introduction
Durham Johnston is a 1700-place 11–18 school serving Durham City and communities beyond to the south and west. It is situated on Crossgate Moor, on ...
, in Durham City. Changes to admissions rules since then, however, mean that they attend a variety of schools. The designated school for those living north of the A1(M) motorway is now
Belmont Community School
Belmont Community School is a comprehensive school in Belmont, County Durham, England.
Location
Belmont Community School is an 11-16 secondary school on the outskirts of Durham city. Its campus site is shared with Belmont Primary School. The ...
.
Notable people
*
Dick Witham, professional footballer
References
External links
Website about/for BowburnBowburn Local History Society
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Villages in County Durham