Explore England
A quiet market town in the Vale of Durham is fast becoming a national tourist destination. Isobel King pays a visit
Isobel King is charmed by Bishop Auckland
TENTATIVELY I take the last few steps up to the top of the 15-metre-high viewing platform and, clinging to the handrail (I’ll admit, I’ve no head for heights), look out across Bishop Auckland. The broad street of Market Place sweeps along before us, leading up to Auckland Castle, which is surrounded by a lush, wooded deer park, bounded again by Durham countryside.
The wind that billows around me is a reminder of the town’s elevated position – set high above a meander in the River Wear – as well as, rather more uncomfortably, my own!
I’m at the top of Auckland Tower, a recent addition to the town. It’s a strikingly modern design, which can’t be to everyone’s taste, yet is strangely reminiscent of a medieval siege engine. This seems somewhat combative, given its proximity to the castle, but is, of course, a deliberate statement. Auckland Castle was once firmly off limits to the public and it’s the aim of a new project here to lay siege to these historical barriers.
The tower serves as an information point to what has become known as the Auckland Project – a charity that is funding the creation of seven new major visitor sites, museums and galleries, and in doing so aiming to transform the town’s fortunes.
History hangs heavy over Bishop Auckland, which lies 11 miles or so south of Durham City. The 900-yearold castle was once the private palace of some of the most powerful men in the history of England, while the town itself, important since medieval times, grew during the 19th century into a bustling centre of the north-east’s coal-mining industry.
More recent years, however, have been a struggle: the high street knocked by shop closures, the historic buildings that line Market Place rundown – their noble facades weathered by neglect.
Auckland Castle is the jewel in the project’s offering which, after three years of restoration and refurbishment, opened its doors just this November. This imposing sandstone building, largely the work of James Wyatt, architect to King George III, played host to royalty on many occasions, including King John, Charles I and Queen Victoria.
It was the home of the Prince Bishops of Durham, a succession of privileged men who wielded unique secular and spiritual power. They could raise their own armies, mint their own coins and administer justice, running Co. Durham as a virtually independent state. The Prince Bishops were as likely to bear a sword as a crozier, fighting in battle as formidable guardians of the Northern realm.
“There are two kings in England,
namely, the lord king of England wearing a crown . . . and the lord bishop of Durham wearing a mitre in place of a crown. . .” wrote William de St Botolph, steward to Bishop Anthony Bek (1284-1310) in 1302. Their secular power lasted until 1832 when, after the Reform Act, they transitioned into the church leaders we recognise today, though the Bishop of Durham still sits in the House of
Lords and occasionally speaks publicly on social and religious issues.
“It’s a story that has never really been told,” says Claire Baron, Head of Exhibitions and Interpretation at Auckland Castle, referring to the Bishops of Durham and their legacy. “Our real purpose wasn’t only to conserve the castle, but to tell the story of how the Bishops of Durham shaped the course of our history.”
Bishop Richard Fox (1494-1501), for instance, completed negotiations for the marriage between King of Scotland James IV and Henry VII’s daughter, Margaret, which ultimately led to the union of the two crowns; Bishop John Cosin (1660-1672) played a leading role in the 1662 revision of the Book of Common prayer, which is still used in the Church of England today; and Bishop Shute Barrington (1791-1826) was an important patron of William Wilberforce and advocate for the abolition of slavery.
Visitors to the castle can now walk the processional route that supplicants to the Bishop would have taken, through the State Rooms to the grand Throne Room, contemplate in the
Bishop’s private chapel, take in an exhibition at the Bishop Trevor gallery and even nosy about what was the Bishop’s private quarters.
“We don’t have a vast collection; we’re not one of the great treasure houses of England and we accept that,” Claire says, “but what we do have are fascinating stories of the men who worked here and the role that they played in national politics.”
To communicate these stories, as well as general information panels, a series of rooms in the Bishop’s private quarters have been recreated as they would have been at a specific moment in history.
“We’ve used everything from soundscapes to projections, so essentially you step back in time and walk in on a room as a Bishop used it,” says Claire. In one room a soundscape recreates an angry mob who, in 1831, gathered outside the castle, breaking windows and burning an effigy of Bishop William Van Mildert (1826-1836) in protest of the Bishop’s opposition to the Reform Act.
In another room, you’ll overhear Bishop Hensley Henson (1920-1939), who was very vocal in his opposition to appeasement, talking to his dogs in despair as he hears on the radio that the 1938 Munich Agreement has been signed. One audio-visual segment shows the current Bishop of Durham, Paul Butler (2014-present), answering questions from the public ranging from the serious (his intervention in the migrant crisis, for example), to the downright silly. His favourite biscuit? A garibaldi.
In the castle grounds, the Walled Garden, which was created in the 17th century by Bishop Cosin (1660-1672), is being restored to its former glory. As well as being a beautiful retreat, fresh produce will be grown here for the Auckland Project’s various cafés and restaurants. It will also host a “glass-bubbled” restaurant where you can dine under ultra-modern glass domes.
Keen walkers can take to the 200-acre deer park, too, which traditionally served as the Prince Bishop’s hunting grounds. The park is a haven for wildlife with long-eared owls, red ants, kingfishers and woodpeckers making it their home. Once complete, a sandstone building in the grounds will serve as the Faith Museum – the first in England to explore how faith has shaped Britain from prehistory to the modern day. Eternity in 740 square metres.
The Faith Museum is not the only first that, thanks to the project, Bishop Auckland can now lay claim to: it is already home to the Mining Art Gallery, the first in the UK solely dedicated to art by miners.
“It’s a fitting place to have it,” says Exhibitions Curator Angela Thomas, “as many of the towns and villages [in
the surrounding area] wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the coal industry.”
The diverse range of works on display tell the miners’ poignant stories and reveal the dangerous conditions they faced underground, often working under intense heat and in spaces no more than a few feet high. The Hartley Pit Disaster by H.H. Emmerson depicts the community’s despair after the 1862 tragedy, when the only mine shaft collapsed and 220 men, almost an entire generation of the town, were entombed alive.
Upstairs, the tone is lighter, with artworks depicting life above ground. There’s artist Norman Cornish’s Children Playing in the Back Lane and Berriman’s Chip Van. This was an institution in the nearby town of Spennymoor where miners’ families could treat themselves to hot chips.
Tom McGuinness’s The Caller shows, between the terraced rows of houses, a solitary figure, hand raised to knock on one of the doors. The “knockerup”, as they were known, was tasked with waking up miners before alarm clocks.
“Before you went to bed you would write on a slate outside your front door what shift you were on so that they would know who to wake up,” says Angela. The system only had one flaw. “Somebody told me that they used to go round as children changing all of the times on the slates!”
Art is central to how the Auckland Project – which may well be the most ambitious charitable project ever undertaken in the region – came into being. In 2011 philanthropist and investment manager Jonathan Ruffer expressed an interest in purchasing 12 paintings by Francisco de Zurbarán, important artworks of the Spanish “Golden Age”, and amongst the most important treasures of religious art in Europe. The paintings of Jacob and his Twelve Sons had been held at Auckland Castle since the 1750s, but had been put up for sale by the Church Commissioners in order to raise funds. Ruffer wanted to keep them in their north-eastern home.
The future of Auckland Castle was also uncertain. Its long history as the residence of the Bishops of Durham ended in 2010, and Ruffer ended up buying the castle in a £15 million deal.
The purchase of the castle and the paintings led Ruffer to realise the potential of Bishop Auckland as a new heritage destination and, with his wife, he founded the Auckland Project in 2012. As well as sites already mentioned, there is No. 42, which offers studio space for local artists, and a ground-floor shop where they can sell their work, and a Spanish art gallery due to open in 2020, dedicated to presenting the arts and culture of Spain.
It complements a long tradition of collecting Spanish art in Durham with Bowes Museum, Raby Castle, Ushaw College, Durham Castle and Durham Cathedral all displaying significant Spanish works.
The fact that this is all one man’s vision is really rather extraordinary, especially when you consider Ruffer is also the mind behind Kynren – an Epic Tale of England, where the history of our nation is told in spectacular fashion. This outdoor, live-action show, performed by a cast and crew of 1,000 across a seven-anda-half acre stage just outside Bishop Auckland, has become our answer to France’s Puy du Fou and in its first year alone attracted 100,000 visitors.
“People probably think it’s another madcap idea in a series of them,” said Ruffer affably when asked by Living North what people would make of the Auckland Project. He’s turned his hand to a number of professions and ventures, including training as a barrister – “I discovered I was awful at it, so I gave up” – and writing a book about Edwardians behaving badly at shooting parties (The Big Shots) which turned out to be a bestseller. Ruffer may hide behind modesty but there’s no escaping the Yorkshireman’s ambitions are admirable. He told The Times of his wish to “spend the last part of my energetic working life doing something for the deprived.
“People are so poor up here that they cannot even afford bingedrinking any more,” he adds in typically outspoken style.
In truth, reactions amongst residents in Bishop Auckland have been mixed, ranging from “A mini art gallery won’t make a blind bit of difference. Bishop is a ghost town”, to a Kynren volunteer describing the season as restoring “my faith of how people can pull together to achieve great things”.
Ambition can be a double-edged sword. But with the Auckland Project’s determination that everyone in the town benefits from investment here, whether through an apprenticeship, job or money trickling into local businesses, what’s happening is remarkable.
By embracing the might of its history, rather than being overshadowed by it, the town is set to play on the national stage once more, and whether we’re from the north or south, there’s a rich spiritual and industrial heritage here of which we are all part.
For more information on the Auckland Project, visit aucklandproject.org.