S2 E10 • The Faith Museum

Well, I determined on coming to somewhere which was voiceless and down on its fortunes.

And because I came from the northeast, I felt that Durham would be the likely place that it would be because Northumberland has a character, Yorkshire has a character.

Durham struggles to find an expression of who it is.

And when I was looking, the church commissioners looked to sell a set of Zurbaran pictures in Auckland Palace.

The Prince Bishop of the day had bought the set of 12 patriarchs and Jacob the father.

I'm very gaudy, and given that I collect this Baroque stuff, I thought, well, if everyone wanted a signal as to where to come, this was probably it.

I think I came to this because these pictures, and the lemon in that was that I was persuaded very, very much against my will, that if one was going to take the pictures, one needed to take the container that they were in.

And I really didn't want it, and I was persuaded to by Neil MacGregor, the chap who ran the British Museum.

Much to my chagrin, I agreed with him.

And I remember actually saying to Neil MacGregor, really like a sort of grumpy child giving in, I said, well, all right, I will take on the estates and the grounds and the gardens.

But the first thing I'm going to do is to put a faith museum there.

And the reason that I thought that was appropriate is that in most places that have only a secular background, there's too strong a sense of randomness.

And if you go to somewhere which is a place of worship, then inevitably you're going to be biased because the story will come back to the singular excellence of where you're doing it from.

Now, this place has been intimately connected with Christianity for at least a thousand years, and yet nothing interesting has ever happened here politically, a tiny bit socially, but spiritually, as a result of this place, nothing at all.

I felt that a faith museum, whatever that was, would fit the bill.

Well, I determined on coming to somewhere which was voiceless and down on its fortunes.

And because I came from the northeast, I felt that Durham would be the likely place that it would be because Northumberland has a character, Yorkshire has a character.

Durham struggles to find an expression of who it is.

And when I was looking, the church commissioners looked to sell a set of Zurbaran pictures in Auckland Palace.

The Prince Bishop of the day had bought the set of 12 patriarchs and Jacob the father.

I'm very gaudy, and given that I collect this Baroque stuff, I thought, well, if everyone wanted a signal as to where to come, this was probably it.

I think I came to this because these pictures, and the lemon in that was that I was persuaded very, very much against my will, that if one was going to take the pictures, one needed to take the container that they were in.

And I really didn't want it, and I was persuaded to by Neil MacGregor, the chap who ran the British Museum.

Much to my chagrin, I agreed with him.

And I remember actually saying to Neil MacGregor, really like a sort of grumpy child giving in, I said, well, all right, I will take on the estates and the grounds and the gardens.

But the first thing I'm going to do is to put a faith museum there.

And the reason that I thought that was appropriate is that in most places that have only a secular background, there's too strong a sense of randomness.

And if you go to somewhere which is a place of worship, then inevitably you're going to be biased because the story will come back to the singular excellence of where you're doing it from.

Now, this place has been intimately connected with Christianity for at least a thousand years, and yet nothing interesting has ever happened here politically, a tiny bit socially, but spiritually, as a result of this place, nothing at all.

I felt that a faith museum, whatever that was, would fit the bill.