ST. MARY'S CHURCH CLOSES

It is sad to report that St. Mary's Church, Howden-le-Wear, has now finally closed. At a packed final service at 6pm. on Sunday, 27th. January 2008, the Bishop of Durham and Fth. Stewart Irwin conducted a Mass of Thanksgiving. The contents of the Church have been distributed according to plan, with other churches in the neighbourhood taking whatever they needed, some items pertaining to village history have been accepted by the Local History Society and other items returned to related family members. Church Register Books and Records will be transferred to the Durham County and Diocesan Record Office. Now that the church has been declared redundant, the future of the building itself is in the hands of the Church Commissioners, pending decision. The Parish Church of St. Mary The Virgin, Howden-le-Wear has served the community well for 138 years but, unfortunately, maintenance of the building has proved an impossible burden to finance and with few regular members, the inevitable decision to close was reached some time ago.