Structure Name: Auckland Castle

Description:
 

Auckland Castle is of an irregular plan and displays a complex building history.

Essentially it is composed of a medieval manor, including a great hall running on an east-west axis, to the east of the site with its own services at the east end. A great hall, which is now the Chapel of St Peter. To west of this is a kitchen range, aligned on a north-south axis, from which the Scotland wing runs east-west.

Access to the castle buildings is gained through a gatehouse set in a Gothic screen wall.
 

Extant: Yes

Legal Status: Listed Building Grade I

Location: Bishop Auckland, DURHAM

Eastings: 421410m (view map)

Northings: 530280m (view map)

Position Accuracy: 50m

Positional Confidence: Absolute Certainty

Structure Types Identified: APARTMENT, CASTLE, CHAPEL, GARDEN WALL, GATEHOUSE, GRANARY, HALL HOUSE, HUNTING LODGE, MANOR HOUSE, OFFICE

Chronology:

• 1153 - 1195   Great hall built for Bishop Puiset some time during his ascendancy.
      Entities Involved:
            Bishop Hugh de Puiset: Commissioned building.
• 1284 - 1311   Program of building work instigated by Bishop Bek, including alterations and an enlargement of the great hall and the building of a chapel.
      Entities Involved:
            Bishop Antony Bek: Commissioned work.
• 16TH CENTURY AD   Scotland wing probably added as a long gallery for Bishop Tunstall. Used later as a granary.
      Entities Involved:
            Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall: Commissioned work.
• 1509 - 1523   A number of alterations were carried out by Bishop Ruthall, especially on the north-south kitchen range.
      Entities Involved:
            Bishop Thomas Ruthall: Commissioned work.
• 1647 - 1657   Following the Civil War the castle passed into the hands of Sir Arthur Hesilrige. Hesilrige destroyed Bishop Bek's chapel and began building a manor house, based on Thorpe Hall in Peterborough, though this was never finished. The work carried out by Hesilrige resulted in less than half the previous structures at Auckland Castle surviving.
      Entities Involved:
            Sir Arthur Hesilrige: Commissioned work.
• 1660 - 1672   Substantial rebuilding work carried out on the behalf of Bishop Cosin, including the conversion of Puiset's great hall into a chapel, the conversion of the presence chamber into a great hall, and the building of the Castle Lodge. The new building work tended to be faced in in a blend of Gothic and Restoration styles.
      Entities Involved:
            Bishop John Cosin: Commissioned work.
• MID 18TH CENTURY   Great hall divided into rooms.
• 1752 - 1772   Building work carried out for Bishop Trevor in the Gothic style. When Bishop Trevor died in 1771 his successor, Bishop Egerton, finished off the building work.
      Entities Involved:
            Bishop Richard Trevor: Commissioned work.
            Bishop John Egerton: Completed work.
• 1752 - 1771   Block of Gothick private apartments added to the southern end of the south range.
      Entities Involved:
            Bishop Richard Trevor: Commissioned building.
• 1760   Gatehouse built in the Gothic style.
      Entities Involved:
            Bishop Richard Trevor: Commissioned building.
            Sir Thomas Robinson: Architect.
• 1775 - 1780   Drawing room and bedroom in the private apartments fitted up by Bishop Egerton.
      Entities Involved:
            Bishop John Egerton: Commissioned work.
            Carr, John: Architect possibly responsible for the work.
• 1794   Staircase hall built.
      Entities Involved:
            Bishop Shute Barrington: Commissioned work.
            Wyatt, James: Architect.
• 1795   Cosin's great hall converted into a state room at the behest of Bishop Barrington by James Wyatt, c.1795.
      Entities Involved:
            Bishop Shute Barrington: Commissioned work.
            Wyatt, James: Architect.
• 1980   Further alterations carried out on the great hall and a mezzanine floor inserted c.1980.

Notes
 

Also known as the Bishops Palace.
 

References:

• Images of England
• Keys To The Past

The information displayed in this page has been derived from authoritative sources, including any referenced above. Although substantial efforts were made to verify this information, the SINE project cannot guarantee its correctness or completeness.

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