Major plans for a £17m museum and restoration project at Auckland Castle have been given the green light.
The decision by Durham County Council to approve the transformative initiative is another significant milestone for the charitable trust seeking to breathe new life into the former home of England’s only Prince Bishop.
This latest multi-million pound Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) backed development will see a dramatic two storey extension added on to the 16th century Scotland Wing to house a new immersive museum experience exploring the history of faith in the British Isles.
The Auckland Castle Trust has pledged £7m towards the total cost of the museum extension and restoration project, and after receiving £1m of initial support from the HLF to develop the proposals further, submitted a second round application to the grants body in February this year.
The HLF decision on whether to release the remaining £9m of the £10m set aside, will be announced at the end of May.
Work on the museum addition and Scotland Wing renovations is expected to begin in the spring of 2016, with phase two within the castle starting in September next year. All the work will be completed by 2018.
Project Manager Simon Davis said the museum extension “is an intelligent building that sits sympathetically next to the existing Scotland Wing.”
It has been designed by Niall McLaughlin Architects in association with Purcell, and reflecting Auckland Castle’s religious roots, echoes wooden Anglo Saxon churches of the 6th and 7th centuries.
Within its walls will be housed a ground breaking exhibition over 11 galleries charting the faith history and beliefs of the British Isles going back thousands of years.
Curitorial and Exhibition Director Dr Chris Ferguson said: “It will be a permanent and dynamic multi-media installation of both national and international significance presenting works of art and artefacts covering pre-history to the present.
“Visitors to the exhibition will be challenged and excited by objects dating back to when our earliest ancestors in Britain started creating art, through to the impact of faith on the formation of contemporary society
“Both the exhibits and narrative will provide plenty of opportunities to learn while having fun.”
Among the dramatic items that will be on display will be the Cottingham Tank, a Viking lead font that is a fusion of Pagan and Christian beliefs.
The Auckland Castle Trust has also acquired four rare stained glass panels from Compton Verney that were among the last to be made before the Reformation, and two striking Bronze Age swords that were deliberately deposited as votive offerings.
Other exhibits will include early Anglo Saxon coins inscribed with Christian crosses and a 17th century recusant chalice that could be taken apart and hidden at a time when being a Catholic was punishable by death.
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
