Spanish prize

Charles Saumarez Smith on Architecture

BISHOP AUCKLAND, a small market town about ten miles south-west of Durham, in the heart of what was until recently mining country, is the site of a fascinating experiment in urban regeneration, financed not by the state but a private individual. The story began in 2001 when the Church Commissioners decided to sell a wonderful series of paintings of Jacob and his Twelve Sons by Francisco de Zurbaran. They were acquired by Bishop Trevor in 1757 for Auckland Castle, his palace at Bishop Auckland. Bishop Trevor was a worldly figure who wintered at his family estate in Sussex, added a gothick gatehouse to the castle, created a new dining room to contain the Zurbarans, and is commemorated in the castle’s chapel in a great tomb by Nollekens. The Church Commissioners took…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, December 2021

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