Church backs down over plan to sell historic paintings

The Church of England is to reconsider plans to sell a collection of historic paintings for £15 million after an outcry from local worshippers.
By Tim Ross
01 Dec 2010

The works by Spanish Old Master Francisco Zurbarán have been housed in Auckland Castle, the Bishop of Durham's official residence, for 250 years.

The Church Commissioners, who manage the Church of England’s assets, had intended to sell the paintings to raise money to pay for more priests and because the insurance cost was "a drain" on its funds.

But protests from local MPs and Anglicans in Durham have forced the commissioners to think again. the rest