Divine detour
COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG in Virginia and the French medieval attraction of Puy du Fou are proof that history can be a huge tourist attraction. America’s largest outdoor history museum attracts 1.7m visitors a year. Puy du Fou (slogan: “Get ready to travel through time”) is smaller. But with at least 1.2m visitors every year between April and September, the historical theme park created by a former politician, Philippe de Villiers, in France’s Vendée region in 1977 is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country.
Now a British investment manager is piling into the history–tourism business too. But for Jonathan Ruffer, chairman of the asset–management firm that bears his name, the stakes will be much higher. He wants to build a museum that tells the story of the rise of Christianity in Britain at a time when the Church of England is losing congregations by the day. He also hopes it will be a thriving tourist destination, attracting 120,000 people a year, despite being situated in one of the least visited parts of the north of England. What chance does he have of succeeding?
The story began in 2010, when the Church of England decided to raise some much–needed funds by selling a collection of paintings by a 17th–century Spanish artist, Francisco de Zurbarán. The series, “Jacob and his 12 Sons”, had hung in Auckland Castle, the home of the Bishop of Durham, for more than 250 years, where they were regarded as a regional treasure and, with their Jewish theme, as a symbol of Britain’s religious tolerance.
Worried that an auction would inevitably see the pictures leave the area, a local member of parliament and a regional newspaper, the Northern Echo, mounted a protest. Enter Mr Ruffer, who was approaching 60 and looking for a new challenge. He was born in the area and has been, since his university days, a committed Christian. Unprompted, he offered £15m ($24m) to save the pictures.
Selling the Zurbaráns might have raised some quick cash, but the castle, which is far too big for the bishop, was still a financial burden for the church. A chance encounter between Mr Ruffer and Lord Rothschild provided the answer. Chairman of the trust that runs Waddesdon Manor—the former Rothschild family home now reinvented as a tourist destination—Lord Rothschild persuaded Mr Ruffer that taking over Auckland Castle, as well as the pictures, was the solution. The negotiations with the Church of England have been tortuous. But, more than a year after they began, a deal has been done: the paintings and the castle, a deer park and 130 acres of surrounding land for £11m. It is less than the original offer, but Mr Ruffer will need to spend a lot on the castle. The Rothschild Foundation has given £1m. The bishop has moved somewhere smaller.
Now Mr Ruffer is anxious to press ahead. Staff wages and building repairs at Auckland Castle are costing him £40,000 a month. He has engaged Sir Diarmaid MacCulloch, Oxford University’s professor of the history of the church, to create a “national exhibition of religion” which will trace an arc from pre–Christian Britain to today’s multiculturalism.
County Durham was an important centre of early Christianity in Britain. There is evidence of bishops at Auckland Castle since 1080. Holy Island or Lindisfarne and nearby Durham were home to Christian monks far earlier. A local saint, Bede, translated many Christian texts from Latin and Greek, thus introducing them to the Anglo–Saxons. His follower, Saint Cuthbert, was an important early English saint. Cuthbert is buried in Durham Cathedral. Last year the Cuthbert Gospel, the earliest intact European book, was bought for the nation from the Jesuits, in part with a significant donation from Mr Ruffer’s charity. The British Library, the Gospel’s new home, is keen to help Auckland Castle with loans, as is the British Museum.
At the same time, Mr Ruffer wants to develop the park around the castle, perhaps with games and historical re–enactments in the hope that these will draw in bigger crowds. Puy du Fou is his template. Next month Auckland Castle will apply to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a £10m grant, a big request for a new project with no record to draw on. Mr Ruffer’s personal ambition is to develop Auckland Castle so it helps regenerate the local town, Bishop Auckland, offering jobs and civic pride to a region that has been suffering ever since the local railway lines and coal mines began to close.
Others have tried to turn old houses into visitor attractions. The successful ones often have inbuilt advantages. Waddesdon benefits from a century of fine collecting, which has filled it with furniture and paintings; it is also close to London. The Duchess of Northumberland can boast more than 800,000 visitors a year at Alnwick, where she has created a huge new garden. But Alnwick is also where the first two “Harry Potter” films were made, which is an attraction in itself. Auckland Castle has none of these blessings. Mr Ruffer has his work cut out for him. But he is a rich and determined man. The ghosts of Auckland Castle are cheering him on.
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