DURHAM |
| Auckland Castle |
In the centre of Bishop Auckland |
Auckland Castle has been the residence of the Bishops
of Durham for the past 800 years. The battlemented gateway entrance is a piece of mock
medievalism built in the 1760s. The castle, also decorated with battlements, looks
similarly mock-Gothic, but has a 12th century core. The oldest part of the
castle is the magnificent St Peter’s Chapel, built in about 1190 as a great
banqueting hall, complete with central hearth, minstrel gallery and cellars. In 1665 it
was converted into a chapel. The interior appearance of the castle today is due mainly to
Bishop Shute Barrington, who in the 1790s remodelled it in the Gothic revival style.
Beyond the castle stretches a rolling 800 acre deer park with a ‘deer shelter’
built in 1760. |
| Beamish Open-Air Museum |
Off A1(M), 4 miles west of Chester-le-street |
Life in the north-east around the beginning of the
century is re-created on the 200 acre site of Beamish North of England Open-Air Museum. A
tram takes visitors to the museum centrepiece, The Town. Here a general store is stocked
with the goods of the day, from Liberty bodices to biscuit tins. A row of town houses
built around 1830 has been brought from Gateshead, and people in contemporary costume talk
to visitors about the life of the times. A railway station from Rowley revives the world
of steam locomotives, oil lamps and manual signal boxes. Exhibits include a locomotive
built by George Stephenson in 1822 and a monster Ruston Bucyrus built in 1931.
Agricultural life is displayed at Home Farm. Among its exhibits are old farm implements, a
section devoted to farm horses, and a working blacksmith’s forge. In a reconstructed
colliery visitors can follow a former miner down the narrow tunnel of a drift mine to see
how coal was extracted. |
| Bowes Museum |
In Barnard Castle |
John Bowes, a wealthy local magnate, built the Bowes
Museum at Barnard Castle, a massive French-style chateau, between 1869-1875. Measuring
300ft long, and 130ft high, it was built specifically for Bowes art collection, housed in
40 rooms on three storeys. Paintings by Goya, El Greco, Canaletto and other masters,
European furniture, pottery and porcelain, even complete rooms taken from demolished
buildings - all these add up to a fascinating insight into the taste of the Victorian
collector. |
| Derwent Walk Country Park |
Off A694, 1.5 miles north of Consett |
A Roman fort, a ruined medieval chapel, a Statue of
Liberty and an 18th century furnace where wrought iron was heated in charcoal
are among the relics of the past that lie in and around this country park. The walk from
which it gets its name is along the former track of the Derwent Valley Railway, which
closed in 1962. |
| Durham Cathedral |
In centre of city |
Durham’s Cathedral, with the castle close by,
makes an unforgettable picture of Norman splendour. During the Middles Ages the
Prince-Bishops of Durham were the uncrowned kings of the north-east, and their twin
strongholds recall the days when a bishop would wear a suit of armour one day and
religious vestments the next. Inside the cathedral, the mighty columns of the nave, carved
with Norman decoration follow to the bishop’s throne and the high alter, behind which
the body of St Cuthbert has been enshrined since 1104. At the western end, the pillared
Galilee Chapel contains the tomb of the Venerable Bede. South of the nave are the
cloisters and opening off them is the Treasury, rich in silver-gilt chalices and church
furnishings, together with St Cuthbert’s 7th century carved wood coffin.
Across the Palace Green, the Norman castle is now given over to Durham University, though
parts of it are open to the public. |
| Durham Light Infantry Museum |
Off A691, north of city centre |
The museum is a treasure house of souvenirs from
historic battles. The museum covers the history of the British Empire from the 18th
century onwards, for the DLI have been involved in almost every major military action over
the past 200 years. Here is the musket ball that wounded Ensign Stretton at Vitoria,
during the Napoleonic Wars; and there are souvenirs of the Indian Mutiny and relics of two
world wars. |
| Durham University Oriental Museum |
Off A1050, south of city centre |
This museum - the only one in Britain devoted to
Oriental art - houses a superb collection of Chinese ceramics from 2000 BC to the 18th
century, including many outstanding pieces of the Tang, Song and Ming dynasties. The
collection of Chinese jade is unique in size and range. The art of Ancient Egypt and the
Near East is also well represented, along with that of India, Asia and Japan. |
| Finchale Priory |
Off A167, 3 miles north-east of Durham |
The monks of Durham Cathedral chose Finchale as a
holiday home. A good proportion of the 13th century buildings still stand to
roof height, and make it easy to see the typical monastic layout. In the ruined church a
cross on the floor marks the tomb of St Godric, a former pirate and merchant, who saw the
error of his ways and retired to a hermitage at Finchale. |
| Raby Castle |
On A688, 7 miles south-west of Bishop Auckland |
The present castle was built towards the end of the 14th
century by the powerful Nevill family, and remained unaltered until the 18th
century. From about 1760 the interior was remodelled and at the same time the park outside
was landscaped and the formal gardens were laid out. A further building phase in the 1840s
saw the addition of the Octagon Drawing Room and the large dining room. Medieval Raby
survives in the vaulted kitchen, the servant’s hall and the chapel. The 18th
century coach yard contains a collection of horse-drawn vehicles. |
| Weardale Chapel & Museum |
On A689, 8 miles west of Stanhope |
Weardale Chapel is the oldest Methodist
Chapel in the world still to hold weekly Sunday services. It was founded
in 1760 and John Wesley visited 13 times. The manse which is attached to
the Chapel now houses the WEardale Museum. The museum has a dedicated John
Wesley Room with many fine local examples of Methodist memorabilia. |
