This summer, a major new attraction is set to launch in the north of England. Kynren – The Storied Lands will bring UK history, myth and legend to life through multiple large-scale live action shows and immersive experiences.
The ‘time travelling theme park’ will explore different periods in UK history, from Neolithic Britain to Victorian England, and will host a large-scale bird show in a newly built 2,500-seat arena designed to look like an eagle’s nest.
The opening marks the evolution of the Kynren visitor attraction in Bishop Auckland, which hosts a spectacular night-time show featuring 1,000 volunteers set against the backdrop of Auckland Palace.
Kynren – An Epic Tale has been running during the summer months since 2016, and is part of a wider project using art and culture to regenerate the area.
How it all began
In 2001, the Church of England announced that it wanted to sell a series of 17th century paintings by Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbarán in order to raise money.
The paintings had hung in a room in Auckland Palace in Bishop Auckland, UK for more than 250 years, and there was a public outcry about removing them from their historic home. Investment banker and art lover Jonathan Ruffer stepped in and bought the paintings in 2011, before buying the Grade 1-listed palace that housed them and the land surrounding it//;.
Seeing an opportunity to use art, history and culture as the catalyst to regenerate the area – which has suffered high unemployment and serious economic decline since the demise of the coal mining industry – Ruffer set up the Auckland Project in order to restore the palace and gardens and open them up as a visitor attraction.
The question of what to do with the surrounding land remained unanswered, until Ruffer and a friend took a trip to Puy du Fou in France, and were blown away by the park’s spectacular, volunteer-led show.
Following that trip, Ruffer teamed up with the owners of Puy du Fou, and together they created Kynren – An Epic Tale of England: a dramatic 90 minute-long live action night show that takes place every Saturday from mid-July to mid-September. Former eventer Anna Warnecke, who lives nearby, was approached to train the horses for the first season. Warnecke fell in love with Kynren and what it stood for, and stayed on, becoming head of cavalry and estates in 2015, and then being appointed CEO in 2022.
To be part of something that’s been created from scratch is just amazing
Now the attraction is entering an ambitious new chapter with the launch of its large-scale theme park.
What to expect
Phase one of the park, which will be operated by charity organisation 11 Arches, will feature five live action shows and immersive experiences set against a series of landscaped historical backdrops.
These experiences include a dramatic Viking raid-themed show and 9th century Viking village; the Lost Feather bird show; a Victorian England experience; and a water show on a lake that retells the local Lambton Worm myth. The attraction will culminate with the park’s biggest production – a Medieval live horse spectacle entitled The Trusty Steed.
The Kynren – An Epic Tale of England show will also continue on Saturday nights with its 1,000-strong cast and crew of volunteers.
Future phases of development will introduce further attractions, including The Lone Centurion, Tales of the Tudors, Conquest of the Seas and legendary stories such as Excalibur and Robin Hood.
Here CEO Anna Warnecke shares the plans with Attractions Management
How would you describe Kynren – The Storied Lands?
It’s a historical theme park that consists of five spectacular daytime shows. Visitors can expect a unique experience that brings history, heritage and myth to life on a scale not seen anywhere else in the UK
How did the idea for the new park come about?
Right from the beginning, the long-term plan was to create a daytime attraction. In the north east of England, having a night show is quite a challenge, both from the point of view of the weather, and because it can be difficult for children to enjoy. We always knew we wanted this attraction, but it took us 10 years to have the right funding and plans in place.
For the past two years, we’ve been working hard on identifying what stories we want to tell and how we want to tell them. We knew we wanted the shows to be local myths, history and legends, but with national – and even international – significance. The Viking show was an obvious one for us, as we already have a recreation of a Viking village here. We’re extending the village with the show area and a proper auditorium, and we’ve created a narrative around that. It’s a really fun show, with fire and fighting and amazing special effects.
The Lost Feather is a stunning, emotional show about the connection between humans and birds
I had always wanted to create a bird show, and I see this as a real opportunity to captivate and educate visitors about birds and the urgent challenges they’re facing. We are running a huge conservation programme, linking up with zoos and other specialists. The Lost Feather is a stunning, emotional show about the connection between humans and birds. It will be beautiful, and very moving.
Our Victorian experience is a walkthrough maze, which will allow visitors to interact with Victorian characters in a Victorian town.
Legend of the Wear tells the story of a local 14th century myth – the Lambton Worm – about a young John Lambton who goes fishing and catches a strange creature that grows into a venomous serpent and terrorises the area. Lambton returns from the Crusades and slays the serpent, bringing a curse onto his family. It’s a water stunt show that takes place on a lake, and it’s brilliant. It’s a fast-moving, exciting show, with lots of parkour and fighting.
Finally, we’ll have a medieval horse spectacular, Fina, which will take place on the Kynren stage. For visitors coming on a Saturday, they will also be able to stay and watch the night show as well.
What is the plan for F&B and accommodation?
We’re doing all the F&B in house – we’ve done it with Kynren for many years, so we’ll just expand on what we have. It’s all themed – we’ve got a ‘time travellers’ restaurant’ where you can time travel with food, for example. It’s really good fun.
As for accommodation, our sister charity The Auckland Project, already owns a hotel and is building another hotel in the next couple of years. We hope that launching The Storied Lands will make a huge difference for the area, with people able to make money running Airbnbs and maybe hotels in years come. We’re aware that there is not enough accommodation in the area, and we hope to be the catalyst for the opening of a large hotel.
What are the challenges of the project?
One of the challenges is explaining to potential guests what we’re doing and what the attraction will look like, because there’s nothing quite like it out there.
One thing I love about working with volunteers is the levelof passion they bring
While we’re continuing with the night show with volunteers, we’re hiring professionals for The Storied Lands day park, and it’s quite different working with professionals. One thing I love about working with volunteers is the level of passion they bring – and they bring that freely. We’ve been thinking a lot about how to bring that passion and spirit to the day park as well.
How are you approaching that challenge?
It’s mainly about training; about ensuring that our employees really understand what we’re all about and why we’re here. This is a regeneration project, in a deprived area. We have a real chance to make a difference. Once people understand that, they can come with us fully on this amazing journey.
Kynren – An Epic Tale of England has been running since 2016. What makes it special?
It’s a fast-moving, spectacular night show covering 2,000 years of British history, featuring a cast and crew of 1,000 volunteers and more than 150 animals. It features mass choreography, incredible stunts, huge battle scenes, special effects, epic music that’s been written especially for the show, amazing costumes and much more.
It’s an unforgettable event that you have to experience to fully understand.
You’ve been on board since the very beginning with Kynren. What were the early days like?
The first year was a complete whirlwind, with emotions going high and low, tears and laughter together. They broke ground in November 2015, and the first show launched in June 2016. We had a very short time frame to get ready for the opening.
The first horses arrived in my yard in February 2016, and they had never heard music or been in a show before. We were riding from five o’clock in the morning till late at night. Even in May, we didn’t have the stage ready for the horses. It was a beautiful time, and also a complete nightmare!
To be part of something that’s been created from scratch is just amazing.
