Auckland Castle and Gardens
The ancient seat of the Bishops of Durham, now the subject of one of the twentieth century's most ambitious restorations.
Market Place, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, DL14 7NR
Discover history where it happened at Auckland Castle, one of the best-preserved Bishop’s palaces in the whole of Europe with a story spanning almost 1,000 years.
Positioned high above the meandering River Wear, Auckland Castle is a remarkable symbol of faith and power and was once the seat of the Prince Bishops of Durham. The Prince Bishops were given exceptional powers by the Norman kings of England, as well as the Church, and governed vast swathes of North East England.
Auckland Castle reopened in 2019 following major conservation work. The building has been restored and the original wall colourings, furniture and textiles lovingly recreated by an incredible team of restorers and conservators. Each space takes you to a different moment of time, right up to the present day. Dance around the Throne Room, rifle through drawers in the Bishop’s Study, or take a seat at the grand table in the Long Dining Room.
A visit to Auckland Castle can help us to appreciate the power, wealth, influence and faith of the Prince Bishops of Durham and understand the fascinating history of the men who have helped to shape the country we live in today.
Extract from the Historic Houses members magazine
At Home with Jonathan Ruffer
In 2012 the investor, art collector and philanthropist Jonathan Ruffer purchased a series of paintings by Spanish master Francisco de Zurbarán, along with the nine-hundred-year-old Auckland Castle, palace of the Prince-Bishops of Durham, where the pictures have been hung for more than two hundred and fifty years.
Jonathan founded and now chairs The Auckland Project, a charity caring for the art collection and its building; it aims to transform Auckland Castle into a visitor destination to revitalise the future of Bishop Auckland through employment, training and education opportunities.
He gave Historic House magazine an insight into the project.
© The Auckland Project. Photo by Graeme Peacock
Auckland Castle is a hard place to read. The first glance is of James Wyatt – ‘that prince of sham and stucco’ – but there’s reality a-plenty, here, and the restorations we have put in place over seven years of ownership have revealed a great deal about the life of one of England’s great Bishop’s Palaces. Back in 2012, when we came, it smelt of rear-guard action – few building works since the 18th century, excepting the installation of a dumb-waiter in 1938, to be followed, in 1939, by a couple of telephones. One of the architects at the Purcell practice whispered to me that, considering its importance, almost nothing was known about the place. That has now, in large part, been resolved.
Auckland Castle during the English Civil War
The Castle’s most traumatic moment was the English Civil War. Ever the silver medallist, it was captured by the Parliamentarians in 1642 and humiliated – the Chillingham cattle eaten as a mark of disrespect to the King. Much of it was blown up and the detritus reconfigured as a gentleman’s house in the grounds for its new commander, Sir Arthur Hazlerigg. Regicides and gentlemen’s residences do not go well together; after the restoration, those mediaeval stones were reworked into Bishop Cosin’s private chapel, and what was left over became Castle Lodge, beside the gatehouse, where I am sitting today, writing this piece.
Read the full article as a member of Historic Houses by logging in now. Auckland Castle is one of the 1,500 houses and gardens supported and represented by Historic Houses. Find out more about our work protecting British heritage below.
'Historic House' magazine
Historic House magazine
Historic House magazine, the quarterly magazine for members of Historic Houses, offers wonderful insights into the stories of the houses and gardens we represent, and the lives of the people who keep them going so further generations can enjoy them...
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