Northern Echo Article
A NATIONALLY–RENOWNED architect and an old local golf course are the latest additions to the exciting plans to create an international visitor centre in the North–East.
Benefactor Jonathan Ruffer announced yesterday that his project has bought 115 acres of the former Eleven Arches Golf Course, on the edge of Bishop Auckland, and it has appointed Colin Amery, who has worked with Prince Charles, as its architectural consultant.
The moves come as Auckland Castle puts the final touches to a £10m bid which will be submitted to the National Lottery Heritage Fund at the end of this month.
Mr Amery, an expert on heritage projects, who has also advised the National Gallery and Lord Rothschild, will oversee the transformation of the centuriesold bishop’s palace into a world visitor attraction, although most of the nuts–and–bolts work will be done by local architects and contractors.
“The castle is a domestic building but now it must become a worthy receptacle for two international exhibitions,” said Mr Ruffer, the Stokesley–born financier who paid £15m for the castle and its collection of Zurbaran paintings.
“It has to be thought through very sympathetically as to how people move round the building and how the exhibitions fit harmoniously within it.”
The exhibitions will tell the story of Christianity, with the 17th Century Zurbaran paintings as the centrepiece of the £40m project.
The old golf course, also known as Flatts Farm, has been bought to protect the views from the castle and park. It sits within a loop of the River Wear on the opposite bank to the castle, and was once part of the Bishop of Durham’s land.
“It is very early days for the old golf course,” said Mr Ruffer. “It’s next to the town, the castle, the park and the Roman site at Binchester, and it is a stunningly attractive place in its own right with views of the 11 arches of Newton Cap viaduct.
“It’s the absolutely central point to so much, and it could be enormously exciting.”
The castle project, which is overseen by trustees, has already bought the former Queen’s Head Hotel, in Bishop Auckland Market Place. It is hoped the hotel will become a place for visitors to stay.
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