The Bowes Museum is in Barnard Castle. It is a very impressive building from the outside. The interior staircase is a wonderful piece of design as well.
The museum holds a vast number of items ; paintings, china, furniture and so on. Perhaps the most amazing part of their collection is a mechanical "toy" The Swan.
It was the brainchild of John Bowes and his wife Josephine. The foundation stone of the museum was laid in 1869. In 1874, Josephine died and John was devasted. He stopped collecting, but the work of building the Museum went on. sdaly John died in 1885, before the building was completed. Josephine was a Catholic, and John had included a Church in the museum.
After their deaths, there were problems and eventually the Church was dismantled and rebuilt just outside the Museum, where it still stands today. John and Josephine are now buried outside the Church, behind the altar wall.
Visit the web site, and if you are ever around Barnard Castle, call in. You will not be disappointed.
Visit the site for full information.
Also visit the site of St Mary's Catholic Church, Barnard Castle for more information about the Church.
photos of Bowes Museum
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