EVENTS will be held to celebrate the centenary of a "tin church" that some people felt would not last more than a few decades.

Local volunteers dug the foundations before the corrugated iron building was put up on a site given by a colliery company at Woodland, near Barnard Castle, County Durham.

It was called St Mary's Mission Church when it was dedicated by the then-Bishop of Durham in 1905, but generations of locals have known it as the Tin Church.

Local historian Len Teasdale said: "A number of other corrugated iron churches were put up around the same time, but most of them, including those in Cockfield, Hamsterley and Binchester, have long since gone. A lot of people felt this one would not last very long, but it has been well looked after and has served the community well."

The Bishop of Durham, the Right Reverend Tom Wright, will preach at the centenary service at 3pm on Sunday, June 5, which will be followed by a tea in the village hall.

A concert will be given by Billingham Synthonia Male Voice Choir in the village hall at 7.15pm on Friday, June 3.

The church will be open the following day from 10am to 4pm, for an exhibition of photographs of the building.