ANGELA YOUNGMAN reports on a new Faith Museum which opens this week in County Durham…
Norwich, United Kingdom
Faith, rather than religion, is the subject of an intriguing museum spanning 6,000 years of history that has just opened in Auckland Castle in County Durham in northern England.
Inside The Faith Museum: PICTURE: Karis Youngman.
Curator Amina Wright told Sight that faith “is a very personal thing, and our object is to examine the history of faith which is not often explained in a museum”.
Amina Wright, curator of The Faith Museum. PICTURE: Karis Youngman.
“Faith is a very personal thing, and our object is to examine the history of faith which is not often explained in a museum.”
– Curator Amina Wright
“We have sought to be multicultural and ecumenical. We are conscious there is a significant Church of England presence in the castle itself which had to be reflected, and were also in discussion with other religious leaders. Our approach is to be object based, letting objects tell the story.”
Jonathan Ruffer, founder of the Auckland Project, which includes the Faith Museum, added: “Faith is an essential elemental force, and we have to come to terms with what faith is and how you respond to it. We have no sense of proselytising, its how we function with things higher than ourselves. This is everyone’s story. We are as broad as humanity.”
Entering the museum involves stepping back into the dawn of time. Visitors head down steps into the narrow, subterranean palace cellars to encounter faith as expressed in prehistoric days with stones covered in whorls and lines.
Further displays lead steadily upwards through the Celtic and Roman worlds, the Viking and Nordic gods before reaching medieval Christendom. In turn this leads to displays focusing on Protestantism, Dissenters and wartime faith before emerging into the contemporary world as seen through the eyes of artists.
Jonathan Ruffer, founder of the Auckland Project. PICTUE: Courtesy of the Auckland Project.
The Faith Museum sits in the Scotland Wing of Auckland Castle. PICTURE: Karis Youngman.
Among the fascinating exhibits is the Binchester Ring, one of the earliest Christian artefacts ever found in Britain dating back to early Roman times. The silver signet ring contains a translucent red gemstone carved with early Christian symbols of two fish flanking an anchor.
Also on display are small models of Celtic figures, a book of hours, a Viking grave marker, a copy of Tyndale’s New Testament as well as a Tudor ‘Defender of the Faith’ medal, a 17th century jigsaw based on the Pilgrim’s Progress, printed clothing fabrics used by the Women’s Guild of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, and a print of Shiva dancing. One of the more unusual items is an 18th century ‘God Bottle’ – an upright bottle of water into which a carved cross and tools relating to the crucifixion have been placed.
Artworks include a display by Roger Wagner putting scenes from the New Testament into modern day Israel, and a stunning art/audiovisual installation of a burning iris showing that faith can survive in the harshest of times.
Displays are set to change regularly as many of the items are on loan from other museums and private collectors.
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An appeal is currently underway to acquire a rare sixteenth century tapestry that has been described as being “the birth certificate of the Church of England”. Commissioned by Henry VIII around 1535, it is nearly six metres long and focuses on St Paul burning the heathen books.
Outside the museum, a faith garden is being constructed to provide a place of contemplation and relaxation. Among the proposed planting will be a tiled ghostly outline of the medieval chapel that once stood there.
Auckland Castle formerly belonged to the Church of England’s Bishop of Durham and has become a major regeneration project for the locality, attracting thousands of visitors every year to explore its gardens, buildings, and museums.
During the summer, there is a spectacular weekend evening show known as ‘Kynren’ which explores the history of northern England with the help of around 1,000 local volunteers who are able to learn new skills like lighting and costume-making.
