Private millions transform ex-mining town into tourist hub
Investment banker Jonathan Ruffer’s Auckland Project is leveraging art and heritage to regenerate the former coal-mining town of Bishop Auckland, aiming to draw 1.5 million visitors a year by 2029.
Bishop Auckland, a former coal-mining and railway hub in north-east England, is undergoing an economic transformation driven by a privately funded cultural regeneration project. The Auckland Project, a charity established by investment banker Jonathan Ruffer and his wife Jane, is pivoting the town's economy away from its industrial past towards heritage tourism.
The initiative began in 2012 when Ruffer purchased Auckland Palace to house a series of 17th-century paintings by Francisco de Zurbarán. Rather than keeping the estate private, the couple opened the gothic palace and its gardens to the public. The charity has since built two art galleries showcasing Spanish masters like El Greco and Velázquez alongside local mining art, a viewing tower, and preserved a heritage railway and Roman fort.
The project has already become a significant local employer. “We employ 201 staff,” says Harry Sinclair, the project's public relations officer. “Around 80% come from a 10-mile radius, so we’re very much leading the circular economy. It’s about regenerating the town through its culture and heritage.”
The centrepiece of the visitor economy is Kynren, an elaborate outdoor performance arena on a 100-hectare site that has hosted evening shows since 2016. These productions rely on more than 1,000 local volunteers to stage horseback cavalry, steam locomotives, and water stunts for audiences of up to 8,000. Starting this week, the venue is opening for daytime shows featuring Viking re-enactments and bird of prey displays.
“We wanted to create a visitor destination,” says Anna Warnecke, CEO of Kynren. “People aren’t going to travel that far for a single 90-minute show like Kynren. So the daytime performances give people a reason to spend all day here.”
The expanded offering is designed to increase visitor dwell time and spending in the town centre. A 59-bedroom hotel is currently under construction on the market place, a development projected to create up to 95 jobs and help the project reach its target of 1.5 million annual visitors by 2029. For a town once dominated by discount stores, the shift represents a high-stakes bet on cultural tourism as an engine for regional economic recovery.
