Cassop

Kelloe is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 Census was 1,502. It is situated to the south-east of Durham.

Quarrington Hill Grasslands is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham, England. The site consists of three separate areas, two closely adjacent to the east of the village of Quarrington Hill, the third immediately west of the village, which lies 8 km south-east of Durham City. The area is important for its magnesian limestone grassland communities, which are largely confined to County Durham and increasingly scarce even there. The grasslands at Quarrington Hill are typical of the type, being characterised by the presence of blue moor-grass, Sesleria albicans, and small scabious, Scabiosa columbaria. Less common species include common milkwort, Polygala vulgaris, hairy violet, Viola hirta, and wild carrot, Daucus carota. The nationally scarce dark-red helleborine, Epipactis atrorubens, is found at the site, as is basil thyme, Clinopodium acinos, a southern species that is uncommon this far north. The Durham Argus butterfly, Aricia artaxerxes salmacis, a form which is only found in the magnesian limestone areas of Durham, is known to breed at the site.

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, it is now in the parish of Coxhoe. As in most of County Durham, the chief trade here was coal mining and Cassop Colliery was where the miners worked. The inhabitants of Quarrington Hill also shared the church of St. Pauls (built in 1868), with Cassop. The stones that were used in its construction were allegedly transported by William Smith, Innkeeper of the Half Moon Inn, Quarrington Hill, 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.

Cassop Vale is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in the Durham City district of County Durham, England. It lies between the villages of Bowburn and Cassop, 7 km south-east of the centre of Durham.. The site is important as one of the larger areas of grassland developed on magnesium limestone. This rock has a restricted distribution in England and grassland associated with it is confined almost entirely to south-east Tyneside and County Durham, usually in small, scattered patches that are threatened by quarrying and modern agricultural practices. Habitats at Cassop Vale include grassland, scrub, woodland and wetland, the last fed by spring-lines. The area also includes recolonised open quarries and mine spoil-heaps, which add to the floral diversity. The main grass species on the magnesian limestone is blue moor-grass Sesleria albicans amongst which grow fragrant orchid Gymnadenia conopsea, cowslip, Primula veris, rock rose Helianthemum nummularium, and quaking grass, Briza media. Several rare and local species are present, including globeflower, Trollius europaeus, birds's-eye primrose, Primula farinosa, lesser club-moss, Selaginella selaginoides, and moonwort, Botrychium lunaria. Elsewhere there is neutral grassland with red fescue and such herbs as cat’s-ear, earthnut and knapweed.The scrub is dominated by hawthorn, gorse and hazel and on the basic soils grow woodruff, dog's mercury and sanicle. The small flushes on the springline are dominated by rushes and sedges, but are also home to marsh valerian, marsh ragwort, ragged robin and northern marsh-orchid. The wetlands are fringed by common spike-rush, soft rush and greater willow-herb.The site also supports a diverse invertebrate fauna that includes populations of the Durham argus butterfly, Aricia artaxerxes salmacis, and the least minor moth Photedes captiuncula.

Old Cassop is a hamlet in County Durham, in England. It is situated a few miles to the south-east of Durham. Old Cassop lies within the Cassop-cum-Quarrington civil parish. Old Cassop is about a quarter of a mile south of the A181 road and is accessible only by an unclassified single-track road. It is covered by a conservation area to preserve its character.

Town Kelloe is a small village in County Durham, in England. It is situated a short distance to the east of Kelloe.

Shadforth is a village in County Durham, England. It is situated a few miles to the east of Durham. The historic centre of the village is designated a conservation area. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 2118.Shadforth is also a civil parish that also incorporates Ludworth and Sherburn Hill.

Town Kelloe Bank is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham, England. It is situated to the south of The Bottoms SSSI and just north of the village of Town Kelloe. The site has an important expanse of primary magnesian limestone grassland, in which the dominant blue moor-grass, Sesleria albicans, is associated with species such as quaking grass, Briza media, glaucous sedge, Carex flacca, and meadow oat-grass, Avenula pratensis. The site holds the largest known population of bird's-eye primrose, Primula farinosa, in County Durham. Other plants that are largely confined to northern limestone areas include butterwort, Pinguicula vulgaris, maidenhair spleenwort, Asplenium trichomanes, and grass of Parnassus, Parnassia palustris. The site has a breeding population of the Durham argus butterfly, Aricia artaxerxes salmacis.

The Bottoms is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham, England. It lies just south of the A181 road, roughly midway between the villages of Cassop and Wheatley Hill, some 10 km south-east of Durham city. The site's interest lies in an area of unimproved magnesian limestone grassland, in which blue moor-grass, Sesleria albicans, and small scabious, Scabiosa columbaria, are the dominant species. This is a scarce vegetation type, which is found only in County Durham and the extent of which has been severely reduced by quarrying and intensive agriculture.Other grasses that are frequent in the sward include meadow oat-grass, Avenula pratensis, quaking grass, Briza media, sheep's fescue, Festuca ovina, and crested hairgrass, Koeleria macrantha. There is a rich variety of herbs, including rock-rose, Helianthemum nummularium, glaucous sedge, Carex flacca, spring sedge, C. caryophyllea, and mouse-ear hawkweed, Pilosella officinarum, and a small population of purple milk-vetch, Astragalus danicus, a local rarity on magnesian limestone.

Raisby Hill Quarry is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in east County Durham, England. It lies just under 2 km east of the village of Coxhoe. The site is a working quarry and has been designated as of national importance in the Geological Conservation Review. Until 1984, the site included most of the area that now forms the Raisby Hill Grassland SSSI. The quarry exposes a section through the Marl Slate and the Ford and Raisby Formations of the Upper Permian. It is the type locality for the Raisby Formation, a carbonate unit of the English Zechstein sequence. The exposed sequence commences with the Yellow Sands, which are overlain by the Marl Slate and some 200 feet of calcareous and dolomitic limestones.

Cassop-cum-Quarrington is a civil parish in County Durham, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 4,735, increasing to 5,219 at the 2011 census.The parish covers a number of settlements: Bowburn Cassop Old Cassop Old Quarrington Parkhill TursdaleUnlike the ecclesiastical parish of Cassop-cum-Quarrington with Bowburn, the civil parish does not include Quarrington Hill. The civil parish was created in 1887 from the townships of Cassop and Quarrington with boundary changes in 1946 and 1953 (the latter changes moved much of the newly built Bowburn Estate into the parish from Whitwell House). Following a residential development at the north-west corner of Bowburn, falling within the Shincliffe parish boundaries, a small adjustment to boundaries was made in 2014 to bring the development wholly within Cassop-cum-Quarrington. The parish was divided into two wards from the May 2013 elections. The division between the two is marked by the A1(M) motorway. West Ward, consisting of Bowburn and Tursdale, has 11 councillors East Ward, consisting of Cassop, Parkhill, Old Cassop and Old Quarrington, has 4 councillors.As of 2019 the majority of councillors are members of the Labour Party.

Crime Rigg and Sherburn Hill Quarries is a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham, England. It lies about 1 km east of the village of Sherburn Hill and about 7 km east of the city of Durham. The site is a working quarry in which is exposed a sequence of Lower Permian Yellow Sands overlying Marl Slate and Lower Magnesian Limestone. The exposures of Permian sands exhibit complex cross-bedding that is believed to represent ancient seif dune deposits.