Ten years ago this month, Bishop Auckland was in uproar as the Church Commissioners tried to sell the town’s treasures. Then a multi-millionaire philanthropist stepped in…
“WHAT I saw was that Bishop Auckland, which I didn’t really know even though I was brought up 30 miles away, had an extraordinary legacy,” says Jonathan Ruffer, via the wonders of Zoom.
“You’ve got Emperor Constantine at Binchester – he was in York in 306, so there are chances that he was regularly at Binchester, and we’re now searching for a pair of pyjamas with his initials on.
“That set of Zurbarans is the best set of pictures that he did, and they are in the cradle of Christianity.