WHEN 17th Century Spanish painter Francisco de Zurburan placed his life-sized paintings of Jacob and his Twelve Sons on a ship bound for the New World, he envisaged they would hang on the walls of churches in South America, helping to educate the native Mexicans.

But the English pirates who hijacked the ship and stole its precious cargo had other ideas.

As a result, Zurburan died a ruined man and, more than three centuries later, in Bishop Auckland, County Dur-ham, the fate of the paintings is still undecided.

Although the 13 have hung on the walls of the Bishop of Durham's official residence, Auckland Castle, for the past 250 years, they have remained relatively obscure.

But with 43 needy parishes and dioceses across the country, the paintings represent a ticket out of the monetary minefield for the Church of England. Church Commissioners could realise as much as £20m from them at auction.

Many people are beginning to wake up to the treasures on their doorstep and The Northern Echo has joined the growing call for the artwork to be kept in the region.

Bowes Museum director Adrian Jenkins has begun discussions with funding bodies to look into buying them.

The museum houses an important collection of Spanish art and former curator Elizabeth Conran is a leading authority on the subject.

She said: "Apparently people of the time believed that the natives of the Americas were actually descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. That could have been church propaganda to persuade them to convert.

"Zurburan did two other sets of paintings, one went to Peru and one to Mexico. It's thought the set at Auckland Castle was destined for the same area."

Zurburan died a relatively poor man in 1664, partly due to the fact he never received any money for his stolen masterpieces.

The paintings ended up thousands of miles away from their intended destination, in the Bishop of Durham's residence in Bishop Auckland, but they were still used as a political statement by Bishop Richard Trevor.

The bishop had been a passionate advocate of equal rights for Jews, an unpopular cause in his time, and bought the paintings at auction for £125 in 1756.

Bishop Trevor had been unable to buy the complete set because one of the bidders believed he was a direct descendant of Benjamin's tribe and bought the 13th painting, which is now housed at Grimethorpe Castle, near Peterborough.

Bishop Trevor had to be content with a copy and completed his set with a fake by artist Arthur Pond.

Ms Conran says that between Auckland Castle and Bowes Museum, in Barnard Castle, County Durham has an unrivalled collection of Spanish art that should be marketed as a tourist attraction.

"We have a real specialism in County Durham in Spanish paintings, which makes a very good reason for people to visit the county. To have the whole set in existence nearly 350 years later, especially in the north, is amazing," said Ms Conran