More information : [NZ 219 304] Auckland Park [NAT]. (1)
Auckland Park first mentioned in the Boldon Buke 1181 and enlarged 1350 was about 500 acres in the Parliamentary Survey of 1647. The present park contains upwards of 300 acres but there is no trace of the original extent. (2)
Medieval deer park first mentioned in the Boldon Buke 1181, enlarged in 1350. It was landscaped during the mid 18th century. The grounds immediately to the south and east of the castles are laid out with lawns and paths. The kitchen gardens are also here. The park is laid out with woods to the north. Traces of Medieval fishponds also survive. More open land is present to the south, part was converted into a golf course in 1894. The bridge crossing the River was constructed in 1757, and the drive in the mid 1770s. (3)
A walkover survey of archaeology in the park (excluding the area occupied by the golf course) was undertaken in 2012. (4)
Archaeological features surviving across Auckland Castle Park, including the area occupied by the golf course, were mapped from lidar and aerial photographs in 2019 by Historic England as part of the Aerial Investigation and Mapping stage of the Bishop Auckland Historic Area Assessment, which was undertaken as part of the town’s Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) project. Many of the features were subsequently visited and assessed on the ground. Key discoveries relating to the park included previously unrecognised features across land occupied by Bishop Auckland Golf Club and on agricultural land immediately north-east of the park; these pertain to the medieval deer park and the ensuing mid-18th-century designed landscape scheme attributed to Joseph Spence. The full results are published in 2021 in a detailed research report looking at the historic town as well as the park. (5)
Historic bridges within the park (extant and documentary) were visited in 2019 as a component of the Heritage Action Zone and the Historic Area Assessment (5). The resultant descriptions and historic background for the parkland bridges are published in gazeteer form in a standalone reserach report that looks at all of the historic bridges in the town of Bishop Auckland. (6)
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