Bishop Auckland Town Hall Bishop Auckland Town Hall is a Victorian Building built in a gothic style and is a Grade II listed building. Aukland meaning 'additional land'. [43][45][46], News reports in 2019 clarified the situation, stating that in 2012, Ruffer had purchased the castle and all of the contents, including the artwork, which included the works by Francisco de Zurbarán. The college and its school were finally dissolved in the 16th century. [51] The railways allowed coal to be mined, and then transported to the coast before being put onto ships to London and even abroad. [33][34], Also in 1604, James's son, the future King Charles I made the first of three visits to the town. [104], Auckland Castle (often known locally as The Bishop's palace), has been the official residence of the Bishop of Durham since 1832. [110] After being abandoned and then condemned for demolition in the 1980s, the town hall was fully restored in the early 1990s. [35] Later, on 8 May, at Durham Castle King James is reputed to have rebuked Bishop William James so badly that the Bishop returned to Auckland Castle and died three days later. A third tier was added at the May 2007 local elections when a new town council was established. [113] However, in 1995, the viaduct was converted for vehicle use to take traffic on the A689 between Bishop Auckland and Crook, relieving the Grade I listed[103] fourteenth-century single-lane Bishop Skirlaw bridge which sits in the valley below it.[111][114]. In 2007 Manchester United donated floodlights to Bishop Auckland Football Club, which the club has added to their new ground, Hertage Park. The route of the Roman road Dere Street passes straight through the middle of the town on its way to the nearby Roman Fort at Binchester. [78], A September 2019 report stated that Bishop Auckland was one of the towns designated to receive up £25 million to in funding from a new Towns Fund that was intended "to improve industrial areas that have not benefitted from economic growth in the same way as more prosperous areas." The church was built in the thirteenth century and acted as a collegiate church. 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He used £70,000 received from lead mining royalties in Weardale to fund the establishment of a number of schools in the area. Durham Castle was donated to the new university and Auckland Castle, usually the preferred residence by successive Bishops, became the Bishop of Durham's official residence in 1832. [9], The town also traditionally had a strong retail sector. [111] Freight traffic ceased to use the line completely in 1993 when Blue Circle cement stopped using the line to transport cement from its works in Eastgate.[120]. We'd love to hear from you! The current Bishop Auckland General Hospital has 286 beds, and since opening in 2002 has become a centre specialising in routine surgery. A steward of Bishop Antony Bek in the thirteenth century is quoted as saying England had two kings; the king and the Bishop of Durham. The Town Hall has held three exhibitions for mining artist Tom Lamb. [44] The site would also include three new restaurants for visitors, with one in operation by early November 2019. Jun 10, 2018 - This Pin was discovered by Billbod. [103] Other notable buildings include the town hall, a Victorian railway viaduct and Binchester Roman fort. [92], Under proposals approved by the government on 25 July 2007, Durham County Council and Wear Valley District Council were replaced on 1 April 2009 by a single unitary authority serving the whole of County Durham.[10][93]. [73] In 2015, Bishop Auckland was granted Heritage Action Zone status by Historic England, a 5-year programme that aimed to reinvigorate the town and its economy through tourism and its heritage. [87] A 1788 report states that the Bishops had the authority to appoint judges and barons and to offer pardons. One from the archives and one I had forgot about in all honesty. [79], An October 2019 article in The Guardian referred to Bishop Auckland as a "rundown town ... since the closure of the mines" but predicted that the re-opening of Auckland Castle would transform the community into a "leading tourist destination". [6], During the Industrial Revolution, the town grew rapidly as coal mining took hold as an important industry. [7][48] Although, coal mining had existed on a small-scale as early as 1183 when it is mentioned in the Boldon Book,[49] it was limited by the lack of an easy way to transport coal away from the area.