Cassop
Encyclopedia
Cassop is a village in County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It has a population of about 500 and is located near the city of Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

. A former mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 village, mining is no longer the main occupation of Cassop's inhabitants due to extensive mine closure
Mine closure
Mine closure is the period of time when the ore-extracting activities of a mine have ceased, and final decommissioning and mine reclamation are being completed. It is generally associated with reduced employment levels, which can have a significant negative impact on local economies...

 over the last 30 years.

Formerly this village was in the parish of Kelloe
Kelloe
Kelloe is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is situated to the south-east of Durham.The village of Kelloe with a name that derives from Caluh Law had eight small coal mines in its vicinity during the last century but its history goes back well before the days of mining...

, but like many of the villages in that extensive parish, it broke away during the 19th Century in this case to form the parish of Cassop-cum-Quarrington
Cassop-cum-Quarrington
Cassop-cum-Quarrington is a civil parish in County Durham, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 4,735.The parish covers a number of settlements:* Bowburn* Cassop* Old Cassop* Old Quarrington* Parkhill* Tursdale...

, with the neighbouring village, Quarrington Hill
Quarrington Hill
Quarrington Hill is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated a short distance to the north of Kelloe.Having been part of the extensive parish of Kelloe, it merged with the village of Cassop during the 19th Century to form the parish of Cassop-cum-Quarrington...

. This no doubt happened due to the inevitable expansion of the population as was the case all through County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

 due to the widespread mining industry.

Cassop Primary School is believed to have been the first in the UK to generate some of its own electricity with its own wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...

 which was erected in February 1999.

Religious sites

The church of St. Paul, Cassop cum Quarrington was built in 1868. The stones that were used in its construction were allegedly transported by William Smith, innkeeper of the Half Moon Inn, Quarrington Hill
Quarrington Hill
Quarrington Hill is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated a short distance to the north of Kelloe.Having been part of the extensive parish of Kelloe, it merged with the village of Cassop during the 19th Century to form the parish of Cassop-cum-Quarrington...

, as he was the only villager to own such a cart to make this possible. It was closed during the 1980s and is now demolished. The churchyard is still used for burials.

External links


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