Auckland Castle
Castle in the town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England, UK.
Each edition grades its towns against each other only.

Around Bishop Auckland, the places to visit include 4 museums, 2 castles and a historic house. The built-up area itself has 4 places on our list; 6 others are within 5 km of its edge. Visits to Locomotion - The National Railway Museum at Shildon run to about 94K a year. 2 of the places on the list are maintained by English Heritage. Durham Castle is worth a day, 15 km from the centre.
Then come 3 museums, an art gallery and a castle, behind Auckland Castle.
Historic house · English HeritageAuckland Castlein townMuseumMuseumFaith Museumin town
Art galleryMining Art Galleryin townMuseumMuseumThe Bishopsin town
MuseumLocomotion - The National Railway Museum at Shildon3 km outside town, to the southeast · 94K visitors a year
CastleWitton Castle3.2 km outside town, to the westEach has a page of its own: what it is, who runs it, the weather month by month and what else is near it.
The farthest of them, Durham Mining Museum, is 7.4 km out.
The dashed line is Bishop Auckland’s built-up area; orange marks its middle (where most people live). Numbers match the list below. © OpenStreetMap contributors · ONS built-up area 2022
Museums or galleries number 5, castles or historic places 4.
Green: inside Bishop Auckland. Grey: within 5 km of its edge.
2 places are cared for by English Heritage (Auckland Castle and Auckland Castle Deer Shelter).
It starts in town with 4 places and goes on to 6 within 5 km of its edge.
Castle in the town of Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England, UK.
Grade II listed former bank building, now art gallery, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, England, UK.
Railway museum, transport museum, collection museum, children's museum, open-air museum in Shildon, United Kingdom.
The 4 inside Bishop Auckland come first, best known first; then the places within 5 km, close and well known first. Churches and listed buildings are on the History page, not here.
92 listed buildings and 2 scheduled monuments are on Bishop Auckland’s History page → · Parks, footpaths and green space in Bishop Auckland →
Day trips number 12; the best known is Durham Castle, 15 km off.
CastleDurham Castle15 km northeast
CathedralDurham Cathedral15 km northeast
CastleRaby Castle10 km southwest
Castle · English HeritageBarnard Castle Grounds20 km southwest
MuseumBeamish Museum26 km north · 350K visitors a year
Museum · English HeritageThe Bowes Museum19 km southwest
Abbey or priory · English HeritageMonkwearmouth-Jarrow Abbey35 km northeast
MuseumTurbinia36 km north
CastleBrancepeth Castle9.5 km north
MuseumOriental Museum14 km northeast · 19K visitors a year
CathedralNewcastle Cathedral36 km north
Castle · English HeritageRichmond Castle28 km southPlaces well known beyond Bishop Auckland (Wikipedia articles in several languages, published visitor counts, or a National Trust, English Heritage or Cadw property), close and famous first. Distances are straight lines from the middle of the town.
The best known inside Bishop Auckland’s built-up area are Auckland Castle, Faith Museum, Mining Art Gallery and The Bishops. In all, 4 places to visit are mapped inside the town, and 6 more within 5 km.
5 museums and galleries are in or within 5 km of Bishop Auckland: Faith Museum, Mining Art Gallery, The Bishops and Locomotion - The National Railway Museum at Shildon.
Yes. In or within 5 km of Bishop Auckland, 2 places are cared for by English Heritage (Auckland Castle and Auckland Castle Deer Shelter).
Within 40 km: Durham Castle (15 km), Durham Cathedral (15 km), Raby Castle (10 km), Barnard Castle Grounds (20 km).
Bishop Auckland has 92 listed buildings, 9 of them Grade I. They are on its History page, from Historic England’s list, not repeated here.
From OpenStreetMap (museums, galleries, zoos, theme parks and attractions, castles, forts and abbeys, and historic houses and gardens that are open to visitors) and Wikidata (what each place is, who runs it, its website and visitor counts). A place counts for Bishop Auckland when it is inside the ONS 2022 built-up area, and as nearby within 5 km of its edge. Opening times and prices are not shown: check the official site.
Places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database Licence) and Wikidata (CC0), placed in the ONS 2022 built-up area (Open Government Licence v3.0). Visitor counts are the latest Wikidata gives, with their year.
Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.