St Mary the Virgin, Shincliffe - 'A Church Near You' page (external site)

List of Rectors

St Mary's Timeline

Installation of a new ring of six bells, 1969

The Fire, 1980

The Church of St Mary the Virgin, Shincliffe, by The Rev. Reg Brown, 1990

The Water Aid Window (2000) &  The 150th Anniversary (2001)

Church Photographs

    Before 1826, the people of Shincliffe were parishioners of St Oswald's Church in Durham.

•         1826 - Shincliffe Tithe Barn is converted to a Chapel of Ease. Consecrated 23rd September.
•                     The Rev. Isaac Todd is installed as Curate on 3rd November.

•         1828 - Rectory built by Dean and Chapter.

•         1831 - Shincliffe becomes a parish in its own right on 13th July, and the Tithe Barn becomes a Parish Church.

•         1849 - The Tithe Barn is now regarded as inadequate for the rising population of Shincliffe,
                      and plans for a new Church designed by George  Pickering are approved.

•         1850 - Building work starts on the new church.

•         1851 - The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Shincliffe is consecrated by the Bishop of Durham,
                      the Right Reverend Edward Maltby, on 5th August.

•         1871 - The Church spire completed.

•         1872 - Isaac Todd dies on 12th June after more than 45 years of ministry. He is buried, alongside his wife Mary,
                     and three children in St. Mary's  Churchyard.
                     The Rev. George Bulman M.A. is installed as Rector.

•         1900 - George Bulman retires. He dies in 1915 and is buried next to his wife Marianne, in St Mary’s Churchyard.
                      The Rev. John Grove Ouseley B.A. is appointed 3rd Rector of Shincliffe.

•         1901 - The first edition of the Parish Church Magazine is published in January. See Parish Magazines page.

                    Fundraising for Church improvements is begun. The Church is lit by oil lamps for the first time
                    on 21st September.

•         1907 - A new organ is installed, made by Harrison and Harrison of Durham.

•         1909 - 1912 Oak panelling and choir stalls added.

•          1920 - War Memorial (Reredos with Panel recording 23 names) originally sited behind the altar

                           is dedicated on 9th May.
                          See World War I Roll of Honour

•         1923 - Building of Church Hall is completed.

•         1928 - John Grove Ouseley retires.

•         1929 - The Rev. Frederick Sydney Dennett M.A. becomes the 4th Rector.

•         1938 – F. S. Dennett retires.
•                     The Rev. Thomas Henry Lilburn B.A. becomes the 5th Rector.

•         1945 – Thomas Lilburn retires.
•                      The Rev. Samuel Moore is appointed 6th Rector.

•         1947 – Second World War Memorial window is installed in the south wall. A plaque beneath records 5 names.

                           See World War II Roll of Honour

•         1950 – A Centenary window dedicated to St Cuthbert is  installed in the north wall of the nave.

•         1962 – After much controversy, the building of St Mary’s Close is completed.

•         1965 – The Bell Fund Committee starts raising money to replace the 3 bells with a new ring of 6 bells.

•         1968 – Samuel Moore retires. He dies in 1978 and is buried in St Mary's Churchyard.

                           The Rev. Alan Lathaen MBE, T.D., M.A., Hon. Canon Dunelm becomes the 7th Rector of St. Mary’s.

•         1969 – The new ring of 6 bells is dedicated on 20th December.

                           See Below

•         1975 - Shincliffe represents Durham and Northumberland in the "Festival of Villages" 4th to 6th July; St Mary's                               Church hosts the Flower Festival.
  
  
•         1975 - Dedication of the Lady Chapel to Dorothy Lathaen on 9th November by the Rt. Rev. The Bishop of Jarrow.

•         1977 – Alan Lathaen retires.

                          The Rev. Reginald Brown is appointed the 8^th Rector of St. Mary’s.

•         1980 – On the 4th of August a fire starts in the north west corner of the Church.
                      The Church is subsequently restored and refurbished, and the World War One Reredos
                      moved to the south wall.

                           See Below

•         1984 -  During remedial work of the church spire, bullet holes are discovered in the weather vane.

•         1987 – Reginald Brown retires. He dies in 1991 and is buried in St Mary’s Churchyard alongside his wife Winifred
                      and their daughter Susan.
•                     The Rev. Stephen McCourt Sandham B.D., A.K.C. is installed as the 9^th Rector of St Mary's.

•         1999 - Stephen Sandham becomes Priest in Charge of St. Mary's and Chaplain of Christ's Hospital, Sherburn.
                     Subsequently, the Rectory  becomes a private house and the Rectory Garden is sold as a building plot.

•         2000 – The Water Aid window in the south wall (in part designed by children of Shincliffe Primary School)
                      is dedicated on 2nd February by the Bishop of Durham.

                           See Below

•         2001 -  The parish celebrates the 150th anniversary of the consecration of St Mary the Virgin on 5th August.

                           See Below

•         2006 -  Stephen Sandham retires.
                       The Rev. Peter Kashouris,  Priest in Charge at St Oswald's, becomes Priest in Charge of both
                       St Oswald's and Shincliffe.
  
  
•         2021 - In January, the Rev. Peter Kashouris becomes Priest in Charge of the “Benefice of the Three Saints” – the                          union of the benefice Shincliffe St Mary and Durham Saint Oswald with the benefice of St Helen, Kelloe and                        St Mary, Coxhoe.

Read an article from 1999 looking back at the bell installation,

and a press cutting about Shincliffe children bell-ringing for the Harvest Thanksgiving.

On the morning of the 4th August 1980, Tower Captain Tom Jopling approached the Church to prepare for a peal of bells for the Queen Mother's 80th birthday. He discovered a fire in the north west corner of the building, later thought to have been started deliberately, which caused damage to parts of the roof and floor and one of the pillars, as well as a stained glass window. Several pews, and a bookcase containing hymn books were destroyed.

Reg Brown, writing in 1990:
" Parishioners resolved to respond positively to the disaster, and it was decided that new heating and lighting systems should be installed, and both the East and West ends of the Church should be re-ordered, while the repairs made necessary by the fire were being done. It was during this restoration that the Memorial Reredos, with its three panels, was moved from behind the altar, where it was concealing part of the Church’s East window."

In 1984 it was realised that the spire needed urgent repairs when a lump of masonry fell and hit the newly restored roof, before landing in the cemetery. The weather vane was removed while the stone work was repaired, and on examination the cock was found to have 3 bullet holes in it.

Two newspaper cuttings from 1984:     New cash blow for church    Bullets mystery at church weather vane   

Click on the image below to enlarge: