The Auckland Project is leading a campaign to buy a £4.2m tapestry and house it in Bishop Auckland’s new Faith Museum.
The charity is seeking to raise £1m through a public appeal, which will demonstrate widespread support for saving this national treasure. More than £370,000 has already been raised, and a JustGiving page has been set up for people to pledge their support.
The tapestry was commissioned by Henry VIII in 1534, at the time he broke from Rome and became Supreme Head of the Church of England. Lost for 200 years, it reappeared in the 1970s and found its way to Spain. It was finally identified as the missing work of art just a few years ago.
Now it is up for sale, but an export ban means that it cannot leave Spain – unless an appropriate British institution can acquire it. If so, through the goodwill of the Spanish Ministry of Culture, the import ban can be lifted.
The brand new Faith Museum at Auckland Castle is the perfect place, and high profile figures, businesses, community representatives, trusts and supporters have rallied to the cause. The castle saw extensive building work during the Tudor era, and the Prince Bishops of Durham included Henry VIII’s advisors Thomas Wolsey and Cuthbert Tunstall.
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
