Bishop's treasure to remain in Auckland Castle
It's all thanks to a generous donation of £15m by a Teesside born philanthropist, Jonathan Ruffer.
. He was born in Stokesley and has variously been a stockbroker, barrister and .
He has created a new charitable trust which means the pictures of Jacob and his Sons, which have hung on the walls of a specially designed gallery at , for 250 years, won't now end up at auction. The Church of England meanwhile still gets the money it wants to spend on grass roots ministry.
But there could be even better news on the way. The say talks are underway to secure more funding to allow the public greater access to the castle and grounds, which have been the official residence of the Bishops of Durham for the last 800 years. The ambition is to make it a leading arts and heritage centre for the North East.
It seems both those who campaigned for the paintings to remain in and those who saw the need to raise money for practical day-to-day work of the Church have all had their prayers answered.
You can read what my 91Èȱ¬ colleague Richard Moss has to say about this on his blog
Hi, I'm Chris Jackson - presenter of the North East & Cumbria's very own current affairs programme, Inside Out. Welcome to my blog where I'll reveal some behind-the-scenes goings-on and share my thoughts on the stories we cover.
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