Bishop Auckland ( ) is a
market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...
and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
at the confluence of the
River Wear
The River Wear (, ) in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley t ...
and the
River Gaunless
The Gaunless is a tributary river of the Wear in County Durham, England. Its name is Old Norse, meaning "useless".A Potted History of West Auckland - Martin Connolly The Gaunless Viaduct, built in 1825, was the tallest viaduct on the South D ...
in
County Durham
County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It is northwest of
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
and southwest of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England
**County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States
Durham may also refer to:
Places
...
.
Much of the town's early history surrounds the
Bishops of Durham
The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham until his retirement i ...
and the establishment of
Auckland Castle
Auckland Castle, also known as Auckland Palace, is a former bishop's palace located in the town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England. The castle was a residence of the Bishop of Durham, bishops of Durham from approximately 1183 and was ...
's predecessor, a hunting lodge, which became the main residence of Durham Bishops. This is reflected in the first part of the town's name.
During the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
, the town grew rapidly as coal mining became its largest industry.
Decline in the
coal mining
Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...
industry during the late twentieth century has changed the town's largest sector to manufacturing.
Since 1 April 2009, the town's
local authority
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
has been
Durham County Council
Durham County Council is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of County Durham (district), County Durham in North East England. The council is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority, bein ...
. The
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...
replaced the previous
Wear Valley
Wear Valley was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England. Its council and district capital was Crook.
The district covered much of the Weardale area. In the west it was parished and rural, whereas in the eas ...
District and Durham County councils.
The parliamentary constituency of
Bishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham.
M ...
is named after the town. It is currently held by
Sam Rushworth
Samuel Jonathan Rushworth (born 1984) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bishop Auckland since 2024. Rushworth grew up in Blackpool and studied economics at the University of Manchester. He p ...
of the
Labour Party. The town is twinned with the French town of
Ivry-sur-Seine
Ivry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.
Paris's main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique in the 13th arrondissement, borders the ...
.
History
Names
The town was first attested under the name ''Alclit'' with ''Alcluith'' and ''Alcleat'' also found. ''Auckland'' is an area name used in the settlements of
St Helen Auckland
St Helen Auckland is a village in County Durham, England. It is south-west of Bishop Auckland. It is named after St. Helen in distinction from Bishop Auckland as the church is dedicated to her (the Church of St Helen, St Helen Auckland). In 19 ...
,
West Auckland and St Andrew Auckland, the latter an old name for
South Church, all of which are along the path of the Gaunless.
The town was in the
Bishop of Durham
The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...
's land, gaining the 'bishop' element to differentiate it from the other settlements.
The name Gaunless is of
Norse origin, thought to meaning ''useless''.
It is believed that this derives from the river's inability to power a mill, sustain fish or create fertile
floodplains
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudie, ...
.
Auckland
It is thought to be
Cumbric
Cumbric is an extinct Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup spoken during the Early Middle Ages in the ''Hen Ogledd'' or "Old North", in Northern England and the southern Scottish Lowlands. It was closely related to Old Welsh and the ot ...
, related to ''Alclud'' (which was the
Kingdom of Strathclyde
Strathclyde (, "valley of the River Clyde, Clyde"), also known as Cumbria, was a Celtic Britons, Brittonic kingdom in northern Britain during the Scotland in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages. It comprised parts of what is now southern Scotland an ...
's alternative name) meaning "cliff on the Clyde". It is thought 'Clyde' may be the
river Gaunless
The Gaunless is a tributary river of the Wear in County Durham, England. Its name is Old Norse, meaning "useless".A Potted History of West Auckland - Martin Connolly The Gaunless Viaduct, built in 1825, was the tallest viaduct on the South D ...
's ancient name.
Historically attempts have been made to link Auckland to
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
''Aukland'' meaning 'additional land'. This view of the name origin could refer to the area recorded as being extra land granted to the Bishop of Durham by
King Canute
Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...
in around 1020.
Another suggestion is that Auckland derives from Old English or Old Norse combination of 'oak' and 'land', a woodland in the area with a majority of oak trees with each settlement built between it and the river Gaunless.
Early
The earliest known reference to Bishop Auckland itself is around 1000 AD as land given to the Earl of Northumberland for defending the church against the Scots.
It is also mentioned in 1020 as a gift given to the
Bishop of Durham
The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...
by
King Canute
Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...
. However, a village almost certainly existed on the town's present site long before this, with there being evidence of church on the site of St Andrew's Church in
South Church as early as the seventh century.
Furthermore, the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
had a look-out post where
Auckland Castle
Auckland Castle, also known as Auckland Palace, is a former bishop's palace located in the town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England. The castle was a residence of the Bishop of Durham, bishops of Durham from approximately 1183 and was ...
is sited today and a
fort
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...
at nearby
Binchester
Binchester is a small village in County Durham, England. In 2001 it had a population of 271. It is situated between Bishop Auckland, which is to the south, and a short distance to the west of Spennymoor. It has a community centre, swing park and ...
. There is also evidence of possible
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
settlements around the town, together with finds of
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
,
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
and
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
artefacts.
Bishops of Durham

Much of the town's history surrounds its links with the
Bishops of Durham
The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham until his retirement i ...
. In 1083,
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
William de St-Calais
William de St-Calais (died 2 January 1096) was a medieval Norman monk, abbot of the abbey of Saint-Vincent in Le Mans in Maine, who was nominated by King William I of England as Bishop of Durham in 1080. During his term as bishop, St-Calais r ...
expelled a number of canons from
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England
**County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States
Durham may also refer to:
Places
...
. Some of these settled in the area and established a
collegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...
.
Around 1183 Bishop
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 25,393.
History
T ...
established a
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
in the town, with a great hall being completed in 1195 on the site occupied by St Peter's Chapel today.
Bishop
Bek, who preferred the town as his main residence over
Durham Castle
Durham Castle is a Norman castle in the city of Durham, England, which has been occupied since 1837 by University College, Durham after its previous role as the residence of the Bishops of Durham. Designated since 1986 as a cultural World Heri ...
due to its proximity to hunting grounds, later converted the manor house into a castle. The grounds of the castle were noted as being large enough to contain 16,000 men ahead of the
Battle of Neville's Cross
The Battle of Neville's Cross took place during the Second War of Scottish Independence on 17 October 1346, half a mile (800 m) to the west of Durham, England. An invading Scottish army of 12,000 led by King David II was defeated with heavy lo ...
in 1346.
Between 1283 and 1310, Bek was also responsible for ordering the replacement of the collegiate church established in 1183 with the Church of St Andrew that stands in South Church today,
together with accommodation for the canons; the building known today as the East Deanery.
The collegiate church also appears to have supported a school. The collegiate church was re-organised under Bishop
Langley in 1428 and at some point in the same century moved to the castle grounds. The college and its school were finally dissolved in the 16th century.
The school was not revived until the reign of
King James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
* James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
* James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
* James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334� ...
when in 1604 Anne Swifte petitioned the King to found a school and the Free Grammar School of King James, the direct antecedent of today's King James I school, was established. Although the school's early location is unknown, in 1638 Bishop
Morton granted the school space in an old chapel in the Market Place.
Also in 1604, James's son, the future King
Charles I Charles I may refer to:
Kings and emperors
* Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings
* Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily
* Charles I of ...
made the first of three visits to the town. On this visit, his first to England, he was entertained by Bishop
Matthew
Matthew may refer to:
* Matthew (given name)
* Matthew (surname)
* ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith
* Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chinese Elm ''Ulmus parvifolia''
Christianity
* Matthew the Apostle, one of ...
. In 1617 James himself stayed in
Auckland Castle
Auckland Castle, also known as Auckland Palace, is a former bishop's palace located in the town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England. The castle was a residence of the Bishop of Durham, bishops of Durham from approximately 1183 and was ...
between 17 and 19 April.
Later, on 8 May, at
Durham Castle
Durham Castle is a Norman castle in the city of Durham, England, which has been occupied since 1837 by University College, Durham after its previous role as the residence of the Bishops of Durham. Designated since 1986 as a cultural World Heri ...
King James is reputed to have rebuked Bishop
William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th c ...
so badly that the Bishop returned to Auckland Castle and died three days later.
Charles's second visit to the town was on his way to Scotland on 31 May 1633, when he was entertained by Bishop Morton. His third visit on 4 February 1647 was in less lavish circumstances, as a prisoner. Morton had fled the town in 1640 and the castle was empty.
Consequently, the king had to stay in a
public house
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
off the Market Place owned by Christopher Dobson.

After the disestablishment of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
, at the end of the
first civil war, Auckland Castle was sold to
Sir Arthur Hazelrig, who demolished much of the castle, including the chapel, and built a mansion.
After the
restoration of the monarchy, the new bishop of Durham,
John Cosin
John Cosin (30 November 1594 – 15 January 1672) was an English bishop.
Life
He was born at Norwich, and was educated at Norwich School and at Caius College, Cambridge, where he was scholar and afterwards fellow. On taking orders he was appo ...
, in turn demolished Hazelrig's mansion and rebuilt the castle converting the banqueting hall into the chapel that stands today.
The Bishop of Durham as of early November 2019, was the Rt Rev. Paul Roger Butler whose position allows him to hold a seat in the House of Lords.
In 2012,
Jonathan Ruffer purchased Auckland Castle and all of the contents, including the artwork, which included the works by Francisco de Zurbarán. The castle was scheduled to re-open to visitors in November 2019, after a multi-million pound restoration project. The site would also include three new restaurants for visitors, with one in operation by early November 2019. Nonetheless, the Scotland Wing houses the offices of the Bishop of Durham.
Industrial Revolution
By 1801, the town had a population of 1861.
At the end of the eighteenth century the town had no notable roads other than the Roman road, and little trade beyond weaving.
Although, coal mining had existed on a small-scale as early as 1183 when it is mentioned in the
Boldon Book
The Boldon Book (also known as the Boldon Buke) contains the results of a survey of the bishopric of Durham that was completed on the orders of Hugh du Puiset, Bishop of Durham, in 1183, designed to assist the administration of the vast diocesan e ...
,
it was limited by the lack of an easy way to transport coal away from the area.
All this changed with the arrival of railways in the early nineteenth century, which allowed large scale coal mining.
The railways allowed coal to be mined, and then transported to the coast before being put onto ships to London and even abroad.

Around the same time, the bishop,
Shute Barrington
Shute Barrington (26 May 173425 March 1826) was an English churchman, Bishop of Llandaff in Wales, as well as Bishop of Salisbury and Bishop of Durham in England.
Early life
Barrington was born at Beckett Hall in Shrivenham in Berkshire (n ...
was a keen proponent of the use of education to improve the social and moral circumstances of the lower social classes. He used £70,000 received from lead mining royalties in Weardale to fund the establishment of a number of schools in the area. One of these schools was the Bishop Barrington School (now
Bishop Barrington Academy), one of the town's three comprehensive schools today. The Bishop Barrington School opened on 26 May 1810, the Bishop's own birthday. The school even allowed girls to attend until the age of 11 years. Barrington's support of education for the poor was not without controversy. Some suggested education of the poor would lead people to question their position in society, others even blamed it for the
French Revolution.
Barrington's successor,
William van Mildert
William Van Mildert (6 November 1765 – 21 February 1836) was the bishop of Durham (1826–1836), and the last to rule the county palatine of Durham. He was also one of the founders of the University of Durham, where he is commemorated ...
was involved in the creation of
Durham University
Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...
.
Durham Castle
Durham Castle is a Norman castle in the city of Durham, England, which has been occupied since 1837 by University College, Durham after its previous role as the residence of the Bishops of Durham. Designated since 1986 as a cultural World Heri ...
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.
However, the influence of the bishops of Durham was on the wane and there was pressure for reform. Van Mildert would be the last ruler of the county palatine. Shortly after his death, in 1836, the position was stripped of its ancient powers and wealth.
[
]
By 1851 the population of the town had more than doubled to 5,112,
with a great proportion of them working in ironworks and collieries.
By 1891, the population had doubled again. In the second half of the nineteenth century there were typically around 60 collieries in the area open at any one time. By the turn of the twentieth century 16,000 people were employed in the mining industry in the area.
The town also became an important centre for rail, with large amounts of minerals such as coal,
limestone
Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...
and
ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially.
Not to be c ...
mined in the surrounding area passing through the town on the way to the coast. In the neighbouring town of
Shildon
Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...
large numbers were employed in the railways, where a railway engine works was established.
Industrial decline
By the early years of the twentieth century coal mining started to go into decline as coal reserves started to become exhausted. By the end of the 1920s unemployment had hit 27% and the population too had started to decline, as colliery employment had halved compared with ten years previously.
[
] With the onset of the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
unemployment rose to 60% in 1932 before easing back to 36% in 1937.
The
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
offered a temporary reprieve for the coal industry, however, after the war the decline continued. The last deep colliery in the area closed in 1968, although drift mines and the much more mechanised and less labour-intensive surface level opencast mining did continue.
Equally, the railways that had also supported the area were also scaled back,
ultimately culminating in the closure of Shildon's Wagon works in 1984 with the loss of thousands of jobs.
A 2016 report on the community stated that
the rate of unemployment in Bishop Auckland is both higher than the average for and higher than the national average... The rate of claiming any benefit (which includes in work benefits) is more than 25% higher in Bishop Auckland than the national average, suggesting that many people maybe under employed or on a low salary.
Economy

At the end of the eighteenth century the town is noted as having little trade beyond weaving.
The first mention of coal mining in the area is in the
Boldon Book
The Boldon Book (also known as the Boldon Buke) contains the results of a survey of the bishopric of Durham that was completed on the orders of Hugh du Puiset, Bishop of Durham, in 1183, designed to assist the administration of the vast diocesan e ...
of 1183,
but early coal mining was limited by the lack of an easy way to transport coal away from the area.
The arrival of the railways transformed the town as it allowed coal to be mined, and then transported to the coast before being put onto ships to London and even abroad.
At the start of the twentieth century 16,000 people were employed in the mining industry in the area.
However, by 1915 the coal industry in the town had started to decline as coal reserves started to become exhausted.
The last deep colliery in the area closed in 1968.
Today, with the decline of the Durham coalfield, manufacturing has been left as the largest sector of employment in the town, accounting for 24.6% of the town's employment.
The town also traditionally had a strong retail sector.
As one of the county's main population centres with good bus and rail connections, and thriving markets on Thursdays and Saturdays, shoppers were attracted from smaller settlements on the Durham coalfield for miles around. However, the decline in the coal mining industry, along with increased car ownership and competition from local shopping malls such as the
MetroCentre
Metrocentre (previously styled as MetroCentre) is a shopping centre and entertainment complex in the Dunston area of Gateshead. It is located on the former site of Dunston Power Station, near to the River Tyne.
Metrocentre opened in stages, ...
in
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...
, have caused a downturn in the fortunes of retailers, with commentators lamenting the number of down market stores and
charity shop
A charity shop is a retail establishment run by a charitable organization to raise money. Charity shops are a type of social enterprise. They sell mainly used goods such as clothing, books, music albums, shoes, toys, and furniture donated by ...
s in the town centre. In response, numerous initiatives to regenerate the town centre have been proposed, including the launch of the Bishop Auckland Town Centre Forum, and the 2006 regeneration master plan drawn up by Red Box Group, which was sponsored by Wear Valley District Council and the regional development agency
One NorthEast
One North East was the regional development agency for the North East England
North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County DurhamNorth ...
. In 2015, Bishop Auckland was granted Heritage Action Zone status by
Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...
, a 5-year programme that aimed to reinvigorate the town and its economy through tourism and its heritage.
Notable employers in the town include
Ebac {{Infobox company
, name = Ebac Ltd.
, logo = Ebac-logo.png
, type = Private
, foundation = {{start date and age, 1973
, founder = John Elliott
, location_city =
, location_country =
, location = Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, England,
...
, which is headquartered in the town and employs 350 people.
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." A Durham County Councillor said that the funds would help the partners (including the Auckland Project) to regenerate the town center area for the benefit of all residents of the community.
Building tourism in the town

An October 2019 article in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' 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".
The castle re-opened on 2 November 2019 after renovations by the Auckland Project; the founding partner of the group is the owner of the castle,
Jonathan Ruffer who purchased the property and all of the contents in 2012, including the artwork, which included the works by
Francisco de Zurbarán
Francisco de Zurbarán ( , ; baptized 7 November 1598 – 27 August 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname "Spanis ...
.
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 paintings which had been on tour, were returned to the site in time for the re-opening of the castle to visitors on 2 November 2019 as the Auckland Project, after a multi-million pound restoration project, funded partly by the National Lottery.
By the time of the opening day, a new 35 meter high tower had been erected as a visitor centre; the structure has a lift and a staircase as well as balconies for views of the castle from above. The interior had been fully restored, including the
bishops' "palatial" quarters. According to one news item, "each of the 14 restored rooms, recreated from contemporary accounts and personal recollections" features the career of one former bishop.
The Faith Museum of world religion and a huge glass greenhouse were under construction on Castle property.
Other attractions already operating at or near the Castle include the Mining Art Gallery (in a nearby former bank building in the town centre)
showing work mainly by self-taught or night school-educated miners; this attraction opened in 2017 (thanks to support provided to the Castle Trust by Bishop Auckland and Shildon AAP and Durham County Council); a 7.5 acre open-air theatre,
Kynren, on the other side of the River Wear, with a cast of 1,000 depicting the history of England; and the Bishop Trevor Gallery at the Castle. The latter started displaying the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
's Masterpiece touring exhibit in October 2019.
In future, other attractions were expected to open in or near the town centre: a display of Spanish art (in another former bank building) the Faith Museum (already being built in 2019 as the Castle), a gallery that will feature medieval to later era artworks, a boutique hotel (in former pubs) and two restaurants in addition to the current bishop's Kitchen café.
According to ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'',
"The aim is to make the town – the heart of the abandoned Durham coalfields – a tourist destination that holds people for a day or two rather than just a couple of hours. The scheme will create hundreds of entry-level jobs in a county that suffers high unemployment and has some of the most deprived areas in northern Europe".
A ''
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' report in early November 2019 stated that "Kynren
heatrehas attracted 250,000 people and the Auckland Project, even with the castle closed, welcomed 35,500 visitors in the past year" to this community.
In 2025, ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' reported that Jonathan Ruffer had given at least £200 million to the Auckland Project.
Governance
Historic
For a large part of the area's history, the autonomous powers held by the bishop of Durham meant that the county operated as a principality under England's
protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...
. The UNESCO site describes the role of the bishops in the "buffer state between England and Scotland":
From 1075, the Bishop of Durham became a Prince-Bishop, with the right to raise an army, mint his own coins, and levy taxes. As long as he remained loyal to the king of England, he could govern as a virtually autonomous ruler, reaping the revenue from his territory, but also remaining mindful of his role of protecting England's northern frontier.
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. A 1788 report states that the Bishops had the authority to appoint judges and barons and to offer pardons. The bishops of Durham were not stripped of the last of their secular powers until shortly after the death of Bishop
William Van Mildert
William Van Mildert (6 November 1765 – 21 February 1836) was the bishop of Durham (1826–1836), and the last to rule the county palatine of Durham. He was also one of the founders of the University of Durham, where he is commemorated ...
in 1836 by the
Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836
The Durham (County Palatine) Act 1836 ( 6 & 7 Will. 4. c. 19) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that abolished the temporal authority of the Bishop of Durham within the County Palatine of Durham, placing the county under lay a ...
.
Modern
At the end of the nineteenth century the
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...
created Bishop Auckland
Urban District
An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter
Specific urban districts in some countries include:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Districts of Germa ...
council. From 1894 to 1974, the town was governed by the Urban District council within the
administrative county
An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...
of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England
**County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States
Durham may also refer to:
Places
...
. The district was enlarged to include a number of surrounding settlements in 1937 when Auckland
Rural District
A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...
and
Willington Urban District were abolished. The Urban District was replaced, under the
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
, by a two tier district (
Wear Valley
Wear Valley was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England. Its council and district capital was Crook.
The district covered much of the Weardale area. In the west it was parished and rural, whereas in the eas ...
) and county system.
The former urban district area was re-parished from the May 2007 local elections with a new town council was established. After the elections, the council elected Barbara Laurie as the town's first re-established mayor. On 25 July 2007, Durham County Council and Wear Valley District Council were replaced on 1 April 2009 by a single
unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...
serving the whole of County Durham.
Parliament
The town is a part of the
Bishop Auckland parliamentary constituency, and is currently represented at
Westminster
Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
by
Sam Rushworth
Samuel Jonathan Rushworth (born 1984) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bishop Auckland since 2024. Rushworth grew up in Blackpool and studied economics at the University of Manchester. He p ...
MP (
Labour).
Prior to
Brexit
Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU).
Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
, for the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
its residents voted to elect
MEP's for the
North East England
North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County DurhamNorthumberland, , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. ...
constituency.
Other
The town is located in the South Area of the
Durham Constabulary
Durham Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the council areas of County Durham and Darlington in North East England. It does not cover all of the ceremonial or historic area of Durham, parts of which are covered ...
, and served by the
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service and
North East Ambulance Service
The North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (NEAS) is an NHS foundation trust responsible for providing NHS ambulance services in North East England. Headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, NEAS provides emergency medical services to th ...
.
Bishop Auckland is twinned with the French town of
Ivry-sur-Seine
Ivry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.
Paris's main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique in the 13th arrondissement, borders the ...
, whilst the wider Wear Valley district was twinned with
Bad Oeynhausen
Bad Oeynhausen () is a spa town on the southern edge of the Wiehengebirge in the district of Minden-Lübbecke in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe, East-Westphalia-Lippe region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The closest larger towns are Bielefeld (39 ki ...
in Germany.
[
]
Town Hall
The Town Hall is a "Gothic style"
Victorian
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literatur ...
Building overlooking the town's market place and is Grade II* listed. After being abandoned and then condemned for demolition in the 1980s, the town hall was fully restored in the early 1990s. It now houses the town's main
public library
A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...
, a theatre, an art gallery, tourist information centre and a café-bar.
The Town Hall has held three exhibitions for mining artist Tom Lamb (artist), Tom Lamb. The first was held in 1999 for his 'Fading Memories' exhibition, then in 2004 for Lamb's 'The Footprints of My Years' exhibition and in 2008 the last exhibition called 'My Mining Days' was held.
Geography
Bishop Auckland is located at (British national grid reference system: ) on the Durham coalfield at the confluence of the
River Wear
The River Wear (, ) in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley t ...
with its tributary the River Gaunless.
The town nestles in the rivers' valley about above sea level. Besides this the town is all but is surrounded on all sides by hills ranging in height from around above sea level to over above sea level.
Bishop Auckland is located about northwest of
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
and southwest of
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England
**County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States
Durham may also refer to:
Places
...
. The town is served by Bishop Auckland railway station, which marks the point where the Tees Valley Line becomes the Weardale Railway. The town is not served directly by any motorways.
Notable wards include Cockton Hill, Woodhouse Close, and Henknowle. Additionally, once neighbouring villages such as
South Church, Tindale Crescent,
St Helen Auckland
St Helen Auckland is a village in County Durham, England. It is south-west of Bishop Auckland. It is named after St. Helen in distinction from Bishop Auckland as the church is dedicated to her (the Church of St Helen, St Helen Auckland). In 19 ...
, and West Auckland, Durham, West Auckland now more or less merge seamlessly into the town.
Demography
According to the 2001 census, Bishop Auckland has a population of 24,392, living in 10,336 dwellings. Of these dwellings, around 44% are terraced houses, 33% semi-detached houses, and 17% detached houses. As shown in the graph, the distribution of ages in Bishop Auckland was broadly in-line with that of County Durham and England and Wales, although there is a slightly smaller proportion of people between 20 and 24 years old.
Compared with the national average, the town's population performs poorly with regard to qualifications. At 31.9%, the proportion of the town's population with no qualifications is significantly higher than the national average of 23.2% and 29.1%. Similarly, only 13.8% have a degree level qualification (or higher) compared with the national average of 21.1%.
84.8% of the town's population identify themselves as Christian (word), Christian, compared with a national average of 71.7%. There are below averages numbers identifying themselves as belonging to other religion. The people of the town are also more likely to be religious than the national average with only 7.3% stating they had no religion compared with the national average of 14.8%.
At 1.5% of the population, the town has a below average population of foreign born individuals, compared with a national average of 8.9%.
Landmarks
The town has a number of Grade I listed buildings. The grounds of
Auckland Castle
Auckland Castle, also known as Auckland Palace, is a former bishop's palace located in the town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England. The castle was a residence of the Bishop of Durham, bishops of Durham from approximately 1183 and was ...
alone contain seven such structures.
Additionally Escomb Church, Escomb Saxon Church,
St Andrew's parish church,
St Helen's church,
St Helen Hall, West Auckland Manor House, the East Deanery and the 14th century Bishop Skirlaw bridge are all Grade I listed.
Other notable buildings include the town hall, a Victorian railway viaduct and
Binchester
Binchester is a small village in County Durham, England. In 2001 it had a population of 271. It is situated between Bishop Auckland, which is to the south, and a short distance to the west of Spennymoor. It has a community centre, swing park and ...
Roman fort.
Auckland Castle
Auckland Castle
Auckland Castle, also known as Auckland Palace, is a former bishop's palace located in the town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England. The castle was a residence of the Bishop of Durham, bishops of Durham from approximately 1183 and was ...
(often known locally as ''The Bishop's palace''), was the official residence of the Bishop of Durham since 1832 until 2012. However, its history goes back much earlier, being established as a hunting lodge for the bishops of Durham.
The castle is surrounded by of parkland, which was originally used by the Bishops for hunting and is today open to the public.
The castle and its grounds contain seven Grade I listed structures.
•
•
•
•
•
•
The castle's long dining room is home to 12 of the 13 17th century portraits of Jacob and his 12 sons painted by
Francisco de Zurbarán
Francisco de Zurbarán ( , ; baptized 7 November 1598 – 27 August 1664) was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname "Spanis ...
, which were saved by Bishop of Durham, Bishop Richard Trevor (bishop), Trevor in 1756. Trevor was unable to secure the 13th, Benjamin, so commissioned Arthur Pond to produce a copy, which hangs alongside the 12 other originals.
Auckland Castle
Auckland Castle, also known as Auckland Palace, is a former bishop's palace located in the town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England. The castle was a residence of the Bishop of Durham, bishops of Durham from approximately 1183 and was ...
also provides the setting for Lewis Carroll's story "''A Legend of Scotland''".
As discussed in the Tourism section, the Castle re-opened in early November 2019, after a multi-million pound restoration. Additional work continued at and near the castle to make the town a significant tourist attraction. Reports suggests that the revival of the area, dubbed the Auckland Project, will eventually cost a total of about £150m.
Binchester Roman Fort

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
Binchester is a small village in County Durham, England. In 2001 it had a population of 271. It is situated between Bishop Auckland, which is to the south, and a short distance to the west of Spennymoor. It has a community centre, swing park and ...
. Binchester Ancient Rome, Roman Fort, or ''Vinovia'' as it was known to the Romans, has one of the best preserved examples of a Roman military Public bathing, bath house hypocaust in the country.
Bishop Auckland's main shopping street, Newgate Street, together with Cockton Hill Road and Watling Road faithfully follow the route of Dere Street.
Watling Road should not be confused with the Roman road Watling Street, which is in the South of England.
Transport

The town has links with the birth of the railways, with the original 1825 route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway passing through West Auckland, Durham, West Auckland. Timothy Hackworth, a well-known locomotive builder, built steam locomotives in the neighbouring town of
Shildon
Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...
.
Today, Bishop Auckland railway station still provides passenger services, and is located at the end of the Tees Valley line. Since May 2010 it has been re-connected with the Weardale Railway, which provides passenger services up the valley to Stanhope, County Durham, Stanhope. The town centre had a large railway goods yard until 1972.
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, County Durham, Eastgate.
The nearest airport to the town is Teesside Airport at around drive South-East of Bishop Auckland. The nearest motorway junction is Junction 60 of the A1(M), which is around away.
The town has a bus station with a number of bus routes serving the town. Following the withdrawal of Go North East from the town on 8 April 2006, most of these services are provided by Arriva North East. However, a number of smaller firms such as Weardale Buses also serve the town.
Newton Cap viaduct
The town also has a Grade II listed Victorian railway viaduct crossing the
River Wear
The River Wear (, ) in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley t ...
.
At high, the viaduct provides views of the surrounding countryside below as well as Auckland Castle, the Bishop's Park and the Town Hall on approaching the town from the Viaduct. It was originally built in 1857
to carry the Bishop Auckland to Durham City railway line across the River Wear and the Newton Cap Bank that leads down to the river. The railway closed in 1968 and the viaduct fell into a period of disuse and was at one point threatened with demolition. However, in 1995, the viaduct was converted for vehicle use to take traffic on the A689 road, A689 between Bishop Auckland and Crook, relieving the Grade I listed
fourteenth-century single-lane Bishop Walter Skirlaw, Skirlaw bridge which sits in the valley below it.
On the north side of the bridge sits Eleven Arches Flatts Farm (named after the number of arches in the viaduct) which hosts
Kynren, a local historical performance.
Education

The town itself has three secondary schools—St John's Catholic School, The
Bishop Barrington Academy and King James I Academy. The town also has a college, Bishop Auckland College serving the Further Education and Higher Education fields. Both Bishop Barrington and King James schools have long histories, being founded in 1810 by Prince-Bishop, Bishop Shute Barrington, Barrington and in 1604 on the orders of
King James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
* James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
* James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
* James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334� ...
respectively.
In the government's Level 2 contextual value added, CVA (Contextual Value Added) statistic, which measures how much a school improves students between the end of National Curriculum for England, National Curriculum Key Stage 2 and the end of Key Stage 4, compared with how much other schools in the country improve students with similar circumstances, King James scored 1039.9 points, Barrington 1019.3 points and St John's scored a below average 997.4 points (with 1000 points being the target baseline).
At A-Level in 2009, none of the towns sixth form centres average points scores reached the national average of 739.1 A-Level points per student or the LEA average of 664.1 points. Amongst sixth form centres in the town, St John's performed best with an average score of 661.5 points per student. In comparison, King James had an average A-Level score of 557 points and Bishop Auckland College with 459.3 points taking last position in the LEA in terms of A-Level point score, a position occupied by King James in the previous year.
The Bishop Barrington Academy no longer has its own sixth form, with the school being a feeder for Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
. The average A-Level points score at Queen Elizabeth is 871.8.
The needs of those with Special education in the United Kingdom, special educational needs are served by Evergreen Primary.
The town is served also by the following primary schools; Cockton Hill Infant, Cockton Hill Junior, Copeland Road Primary, Etherley Lane Primary, Oakley Cross Primary, St Andrew's Primary, St Anne's CofE Primary, St Helen Auckland Community Primary, St Wilfrid's RC Primary, Woodhouse Community Primary, Evergreen Primary School, Prince Bishops Community Primary School.
Durham University
Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...
's Zurbarán Centre for Spanish and Latin American Art is located at Roper House in the centre of Bishop Auckland and offers postgraduate degrees (Master of Arts, MA and PhD).
Public services
Healthcare

As is the case with the rest of the United Kingdom, the population of the town is served by the National Health Service (NHS). The town has its own NHS hospital, Bishop Auckland General Hospital. The current Bishop Auckland General Hospital has 286 beds, and since opening in 2002 has become a centre specialising in routine surgery. Although Bishop Auckland General Hospital was built with an Accident and Emergency department, this was closed and replaced with an "Urgent Care Centre" in 2009, when the local NHS trust concentrated acute (medicine), acute health care services at Durham and Darlington, and moved more routine surgery to Bishop Auckland General.
The new hospital was a Private Finance Initiative, PFI project and was announced by the Labour party (UK), Labour government in the summer of 1997. and temporary huts constructed during World War II.
Other local hospitals include Darlington Memorial Hospital and University Hospital of North Durham, which has replaced Durham Dryburn and was announced on the same day as the new Bishop Auckland General. All three of these hospitals are run by County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, which provides secondary health care services in the area. The local ambulance service is
North East Ambulance Service
The North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (NEAS) is an NHS foundation trust responsible for providing NHS ambulance services in North East England. Headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, NEAS provides emergency medical services to th ...
.
Utilities
Bishop Auckland's water and sewerage is managed by Northumbrian Water Group#Northumbrian Water Limited, Northumbrian Water. Water supply comes from Burnhope Reservoir via the Wear Valley water treatment works at Wearhead. The present treatment works replaced old works on the site of the present one and another one closer to the town at Tunstall Reservoir. Contrary to popular belief, the town does not receive water from Kielder Reservoir. Although water from Kielder can be pumped into the
River Wear
The River Wear (, ) in Northern England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham, to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers. The Wear wends in a steep valley t ...
, via the Tyne–Tees tunnel, upstream at Frosterley, this water is not abstracted from the river until it reaches Chester-le-Street. Equally, although water can be pumped from the tunnel into Waskerley Reservoir, which in turn supplies Tunstall Reservoir, Tunstall water treatment works was closed in 2004, when the new Wear Valley works was brought into service.
The electricity distribution network operator for the area is the CE Electric UK, CE Electric-owned Northern Electric, NEDL (Northern Electric Distribution Limited). There are no power stations in the town.
Religion
The town is in the Auckland Deanery and Archdeaconry of the Anglican Diocese of Durham. The diocese has its administrative offices at Auckland Castle in the town. In the Roman Catholic faith, the town is located in the St William Deanery of the Cleveland and South Durham Episcopal Area, Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, Hexham and Newcastle Diocese. Bishop Auckland Baptist Church is part of the family of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. and is part of the Northern Association of Baptist churches
Grade listed churches
The town has three Grade I listed building, listed churches: the Church of St Helen,
the Church of St Andrew,
and St Peter's chapel at
Auckland Castle
Auckland Castle, also known as Auckland Palace, is a former bishop's palace located in the town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England. The castle was a residence of the Bishop of Durham, bishops of Durham from approximately 1183 and was ...
.
Three grade II listed churches are in the town: Bishop Auckland Methodist Church on Cockton Hill Road,
St Anne's church next to the town hall in the Market Place, and St Peter's Church on Princes Street.
Nearby villages
The nearby village of Escomb is home to a complete Anglo-Saxon church. It is believed the church was built between the years 670 and 690.
Much of the stone used to construct the church came from the nearby Roman fort at Binchester, with some stones having Roman markings on them.
The church is a Grade I listed structure.
St Andrew's church located in the adjoining village of South Church is the largest church in County Durham and a Grade I listed building. The church was built in the thirteenth century and acted as a
collegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...
.
Sport

Bishop Auckland is famous for its amateur football team, Bishop Auckland F.C., which won the FA Amateur Cup a record 10 times in the Trophy's 80-year history, having appeared in the Final on 18 occasions.
Bishop Auckland Football Club also helped out Manchester United F.C., Manchester United after the Munich air disaster in 1958 by donating three of their players, Derek Lewin, Bob Hardisty and Warren Bradley (footballer), Warren Bradley. In return in 1996, Manchester United played a friendly against Bishop Auckland to help raise money when the club was threatened with bankruptcy after a member of a rival team sued over an injury. In 2007 Manchester United donated floodlights to Bishop Auckland Football Club, which the club has added to their new ground, Heritage Park. These floodlights have subsequently been upgraded to LED.
In terms of sports facilities, Woodhouse Close Leisure Complex, a council run leisure centre, has a swimming pool and a "learner" pool, as well as a gym, sauna, steam room and spa pool. Additionally, football pitches, tennis courts and bowls, bowling greens are provided at the Town Recreation Ground and Cockton Hill Recreation Ground. Henknowle Recreation Ground has a 5 a side pitch and a basketball court.
Notable people

* Stan Laurel of the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy
* William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, William George Armstrong, nineteenth century industrialist
* William Atkinson (architect), William Atkinson, architect
* John Bird (astronomer), John Bird, scientific instrument maker
* Eds Chesters, drummer for The Bluetones and Soho (band), Soho
* Jeremiah Dixon, astronomer and surveyor of the Mason–Dixon Line
* James Craggs the Elder, 17th century politician
* Frederick William Faber, theologian and catholic priest
* Robert Kaye Greville, botanist
* Christopher Hancock, who played Charlie Cotton in ''EastEnders''
* Fiona Hill (presidential advisor), Fiona Hill, American foreign affairs specialist
* Dan Jones (footballer, born 1994), Dan Jones, footballer for Port Vale F.C., Port Vale
* Sister Hilda Marley, educator and psychologist in Glasgow
* Alan Meale, Sir Alan Meale, the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Mansfield (UK Parliament constituency), Mansfield from 1987 to 2017
* Scarlett Moffatt, television presenter
* Harold Orton, linguist
* Craig Raine, poet and critic
* Thomas Wilfred Sharp, town planner
* Peter Soulsby, the current Mayor of Leicester
* Amy Tinkler, artistic gymnast
* Ross Turnbull, goalkeeper for Chelsea F.C.
* Charlie Wayman, footballer who played for Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United, Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough and Southampton F.C., Southampton
* Thomas Wright (astronomer), Thomas Wright, astronomer
Climate
The nearest Met Office weather station to Bishop Auckland is located north-east of Bishop Auckland in Durham. The following local figures were gathered at this weather station between 1971 and 2000.
Like the vast majority of the United Kingdom, Bishop Auckland has an oceanic climate (''Cfb'' in the Köppen climate classification). At
the average annual rainfall is lower than the national average of .
Equally there are only around 121.3 days
where more than of rain falls compared with a national average of 154.4 days.
The area sees on average 1374.6 hours of sunshine per year,
compared with a national average of 1354.9 hours.
There is frost (temperature), frost on 52 days
compared with a national average of 55.6 days.
Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures are
compared with a national averages of respectively.
See also
* Baron Foster of Bishop Auckland
* Baron Auckland
* Raby Castle
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
{{Authority control
Bishop Auckland,
Market towns in County Durham
Towns in County Durham
Civil parishes in County Durham
County Durham places with etymologically Brittonic names