A CHURCH celebrated its 140th anniversary at the weekend- marking one of the biggest periods of change in its history.

St James’ Church, in Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, held a celebration mass and buffet lunch on Sunday (Sunday, July 7).

The event echoed the day of its consecration on July 8,1873, when the Bishop of Durham, Rev Charles Baring, led the service before a luncheon was held for the congregation.

Parish priest, Fr Gary Nicholson, said: “It marks another milestone in the life of the church, another decade has gone by and over this past ten years or so there has been so much done in the building it is a celebration of that too.”

Almost £400,000 has been spent transforming the church.

It has had a new roof, the floor was leveled, a central aisle created, new kitchen and toilet facilities were installed and a learning porch and exhibition space created.

Three internal arches have been fitted with glazed screens to create a function room and as part of the Lady Chapel refurbishment, there is now disabled access and window and stonework repairs and redecoration were also part of the scheme.

In each of the first five years of the Under the Roof campaign - so named because the church roof and everything beneath it was in need of work - the congregation and wider community raised £40,000 towards the project.

They also worked hard to secure grants and worked with the Diocese of Durham and English Heritage.

Fr Gary said: “It is a beautiful building, it always was but when I came here 13 years ago it wasn’t functional.

“We really hope that now the community will use it more and more, a lot of thought has gone into every change so it enhances what we have.”

Anne Toward, originally from Coundon but now living in Toronto, near Bishop Auckland, married her late husband, Bill, at St James’, as did parents, Elizabeth and Ernest Firby, and grandparents, Anthony and Alice Catterson.

She said: “It is nice to come back at any time, especially landmark occasions.”

Organist Barbara Scott, who moved from Coundon to Butterknowle, helped organize the anniversary celebration.

She said: “It is a celebration of the church being here for people for 140 years and the culmination of a lot of hard work to completely reorder the building.”