Highclere Castle, where they film Downton Abbey, is only open to the public a handful of days a year and, needless to say, tickets sell out very quickly. I was ecstatic when, after a year and a half of trying, I finally secured tickets for Bill and I to go! When I shared the good news with Bill, he rolled his eyes and said in a sarcastic monotone, "Yay." This sort of thing isn't down his alley, but he's pretty accommodating for my nerdy-girl stuff.
As soon as I booked the tickets, I found a nearby pub in the village of Highclere and booked a room for three nights; might as well make a long weekend out of it, right?! We stayed at the Yew Tree, a 17th century pub that boasts on its website that it can accommodate our arrival by helicopter, should that be our mode of transport. Sadly, my 15-year old Subaru was our trusty transport vehicle.
Being 400 or so years old, the building was quirky. Poor Bill knocked his noggin more than once on the low beamed door frames!
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| The Yew Tree |
No photos were allowed inside Highclere Castle, but I can tell you a few stories from inside. The 5th Earl of Carnavon (the 7th or 8th Earl currently lives there) funded the archeological expeditions to Egypt that eventually uncovered King Tutankhamen's tomb. Sadly, within a year of the find the Earl nicked a mosquito bite on his face while shaving. The small cut turned septic and he died shortly thereafter.
The castle tour includes a visit to their Egypt exhibition, which houses some original pieces from Earl Carnavon's time in Egypt as well as a lot of recreations of King Tut's loot.
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| We made it! |
Downton Abbey is set in Yorkshire, very near where we live. In fact, dialogue on the show often references some of the larger nearby villages. Highclere castle, however, is located four-hour's drive south of Yorkshire. While walking through the rooms of the castle, we talked with one of the volunteers, a very nice, well-dressed posh older man. I relayed the fact that we live up in Yorkshire, where the show is supposed to take place. He sighed and said, "Yes. I don't know why they decided to set the show up there," shaking his head ever so slightly. He went on to say, "Really, if you think about it, we're located in the center of England, right here." Bill and I were pretty speechless... Highclere is south of London, very near the bottom of the country, so yeah, if London is the tippy-top of England, Highclere would be in the center. But, you know, London's kinda in the bottom third of the country. Just sayin'...
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| That's not Lady Mary! |
I have relayed the story to some of my Yorkshire friends and they've all laughed. Apparently there's a South vs North mentality (and a North vs. South) for some. I have also since been told that Julian Fellows, the creator and writer of Downton Abbey, grew up in Yorkshire and that is why he set the show here. So now you know more than you probably ever cared to know about the origins of Downton Abbey... and quirky British regional superiority complexes.
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| Lady Jen at front of castle |
Another thing I realized while touring the inside of the castle is that all of the rooms open to the public are used as-is for the show. All of the furnishings are as the Earl and Countess of Carnavon have had them for years. Even the various bedrooms that have been on the show were used with the bedding, etc. just the way they keep the rooms. Mind you, the castle has 50 rooms, so I am sure there are a lot of rooms that have been updated with TVs, IKEA cabinets, and the like. In fact, I read in the guidebook that the current Earl and Countess live part time in the castle, and part time in another house on the castle grounds. Rough life, eh?!
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| Highclere in all its glory |
I am very glad we got the chance to visit Highclere, and were able to do so on a clear day!
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| Highclere from another angle |
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