The Auckland Project

The Auckland Project is a unique collection of visitor attractions.

Explore Bishop Auckland's rich and surprising past, from the Prince Bishops to the Romans and railways.

• Auckland Tower:

  The natural starting point for visitors to the Auckland Project, Auckland Tower holds all the information needed to explore the castle, gardens, museums and galleries, and offers unparalleled views across Bishop Auckland and beyond from the 15-metre-high viewing platform.

• Spanish Gallery:

  Auckland Castle has been home to Francisco de Zurbarán’s series of Spanish masterpieces

  Jacob and His Twelve Sons

  for over 250 years. These striking paintings are the starting point for this new gallery dedicated to Spanish art, located in Bishop Auckland Market Place. The gallery displays works from the medieval period onwards, with particular emphasis on the 16th and 17th-century Spanish Golden Age.

• Auckland Castle:

  The castle was once home to the Prince Bishops of Durham, and was the place where they entertained, hunted and worshipped. In addition to St Peter’s Chapel and the Georgian Gothic State Rooms, visitors can explore the Bishops’ private apartments and learn more about the clergymen who lived there and their families. There is also a 17th-century walled garden, currently being redeveloped, and a 150-acre deer park to roam in.

• Bishop Trevor Gallery:

  Named after Richard Trevor, who was Bishop of Durham from 1752 to 1771, the gallery can be found in Auckland Castle’s North Apartments and houses a programme of special exhibitions of fine art, with a focus on European painting from the medieval period to the present day.

• Mining Art Gallery:

  The gallery explores working life in the coal mines through original artefacts and artworks by prominent mining artists such as Tom McGuinness and Norman Cornish. The Gemini Collection, featuring 420 works by mining artists, provides an artistic record of an industry and a memorial to a former way of life.

• Faith Museum:

  The Faith Museum explores the myriad ways in which faith has shaped lives and communities across Britain, inviting visitors to consider how people across history have encountered faith. The museum’s story begins 6,000 years ago and takes visitors on a journey through time, considering the ways faith has shaped lives throughout history and continues to do so.