HISTORIC bishops’ palaces will be sold or given over to commercial use under proposals by the Church of England to reduce costs. Even where the houses are kept, most bishops favour selling off their gardens for development.

An interim report for the Church Commissioners after a review of the Church’s 43 “see houses” said that all the properties should be reviewed as a matter of great importance. Most were sold off in the last century, but the Archbishops of York and Canterbury, the Bishop of Durham, and a handful of other officials still live in large palaces with huge gardens.

Each house costs on average £28,000 a year in repairs, £6,500 in capital costs and £15,000 for the garden. In the past 50 years, more than 20 have been sold, including those in Ely, Gloucester, Lichfield, Norwich and Bristol.

The Bishop of Durham’s £2 million Auckland Castle, is a former hunting lodge beside the River Wear with 90 rooms and a six-acre estate. The £800,000 Hartlebury Castle, home of the Bishop of Worcester, has 11 bedrooms and conference facilities. A third of the building is a museum.

The Bishop of Carlisle’s £750,000 Rose Castle is a fortified manor in the Scottish borders with listed wallpaper, six bedrooms and a chapel.

The report says: “For the commissioners the question must be whether they can afford to keep such houses.” The report says that if the house is grand, this sends out the “wrong signals”.

The report acknowledges “ambivalence” among bishops on the issue, but says: “In the main bishops and their wives felt the Church should not be hanging on to heritage property that was too expensive.”

The review will be completed in time for General Synod in July. The Commissioners will then review each house individually, which is expected to take a number of years.

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