The Faith Museum is, in its own words “A unique museum exploring 6,000 years of British history through the lens of faith” and to my knowledge, the only one in the UK dedicated to exploring our national history of religious and spiritual practices. As Thomas and Brigitte McCready were visiting the North to lead worship for us on Sunday, we three, joined by visiting Unitarian Roberta Wedge, decided to pay a visit.

The Museum forms part of the Bishop Auckland Project, a massive regeneration project which is clearly having a big influence on the entire town. We spent an interesting afternoon exploring the museum, which, as a potted history of religion in the UK, is a pretty good summary, beginning with what we know of prehistoric spiritual views, and exploring the Roman and Viking eras before the more familiar (to many of us) history of Christianity. It pays due regard to all religions in the UK, including our long history of Judaism and the arrival of other religions with increased migration in recent centuries.

If you’re wondering, Unitarians are not mentioned by name, but Dissenters certainly are, which included us! The Museum is more of an overview of history rather than an in-depth exploration of its different aspects, which, given that it took us over an hour to explore (and you certainly could take longer) is probably about right. Perhaps in later years, the upstairs gallery space will focus on different aspects of religions in the UK. We enjoyed our visit, and it’s worth a trip, although if you are going to go there, I’d recommend arriving early enough to get the most value out of your ticket, which gives you access to other parts of the Bishop Auckland Project. An interesting trip!