Show Notes
Over the Easter weekend, Christians around the world celebrated the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For this episode we decided to choose a country house that has also been somewhat 'resurrected' in recent years! For 800 years, Auckland Castle in County Durham was the seat of the 'Prince Bishop' of Durham. In 2012, following years of decline, it was sold by the Church in a very sad state. However, far from disappearing into history, the house and estate have instead been brought back to life... and have brought life and hope to the surrounding countryside, the town of Bishop Auckland and the whole of County Durham! If you enjoy tuning in, please consider supporting us by joining one of our membership tiers on our Patreon page - we love getting to know members of our community. Please also like, share and comment as you see fit. For more information, please visit our website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from The Country House Podcast
In April 1930, a young socialite - cheated of her inheritance by the laws of primogeniture - walked into a Kentish ruin; no electricity, no drains, a farmyard of "squalor and slovenly disorder"... and spent what money she had to buy it.
In this episode we travel to Bournville, the extraordinary model village laid out by George Cadbury on the southern fringe of Birmingham. Part garden suburb, part moral experiment, Bournville married vernacular Arts and Crafts architecture to a Quaker vision of dignified working-class life: light, air, gardens, schools and not a pub in sight!
Some gardens demand attention. Rousham simply holds it. Tucked into the Oxfordshire countryside, this is a place where design and landscape speak in the same breath - where structure yields to softness and every view feels both composed and completely inevitable.
From the marble corridors of Newport to the draughty majesty of Blenheim Palace, Consuelo Vanderbilt was the ultimate 'Dollar Princess' - a woman who was traded in by her parents for a title she never sought.
In this second instalment with our special guest, Teddy, the 19th Earl of Derby, we are guided through the magnificent state rooms of Knowsley Hall, the Derby's privately owned stately home that sits cheek by jowl with the great industrial city of Liverpool!