© Copyright Paul Buckingham and licensed for
reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
With its lofty social connections, Bishop Auckland and
environs is blessed with many historical highlights and curiosities. One such
item is the extraordinary Auckland Castle Deer House a little to the north of
the town.
Bishop Auckland is, of course, the home town of the bishops
of Durham. And in case you have ever wondered why these guys chose to live here
instead of Durham City, well, you need look no further than Auckland Park – a
magnificence expanse, purpose-built for hunting more than 800 years ago. It
provided a means by which the famous Prince Bishops could entertain both
themselves and their guests, as well as giving them an income by various means
and a handy supply of timber, etc.
Included among the sumptuous mix of bits and pieces that
adorns the park is the extravagant Deer House – built during Bishop Richard
Trevor’s tenure in 1760 in the Gothic Revival style. It existed to provide
shelter for the deer, and doubled as the animals’ dining area, too. The complex
also had a resting/viewing area for the bishop and his guests, and the whole
construction was built to impress, doubling as a sort of landscape folly for
aesthetic purposes. It is essentially a courtyard surrounded by an arcade, with
a gateway on one side and a tower on the other.
It is clear that these Prince Bishop chaps had far too much
money, though the resulting extravagance that is Auckland Castle Deer House is
a particularly fine – and, indeed, rare – example of its kind in the UK.
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