Highclere Castle - a day at the real Downtown Abbey - May 27, 2014 (Part 1) by Lulu Lange

Last year, as I planned my trip to the UK to see Barry Manilow's UK Tour 2014 concerts, I also planned for one-day sight-seeing trips.  I wanted to see more of the beautiful country.

I became a huge fan of the British TV series, "Downton Abbey" sometime in 2013.  

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606375/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downton_Abbey

I love TV series and movies, but I am not much into period dramas. So, it took me a while to get interested and to actually start watching Downton Abbey.  But, when I finally did, I was pleasantly surprised as to how much I enjoyed it.  In fact, I fell in love with Downton Abbey!

Through Google search, I found out that the Highclere Castle near Newbury, Berkshire in the UK is the film location for Downton Abbey.  

I wanted to know if the castle is open to the public, as I would very much love to visit it myself.

When I visited the website of the Highclere Castle last year, 2013, I read that the castle is open to the public for 6 days in May 2014.   I was so happy to find out that some of the opening days of the Highclere Castle coincided with the dates of my London stay for Barry's concerts. 

So, in November 2013, I booked a ticket to visit the Highclere Castle on May 27, 2014, a day after Barry's concert at the 02 Arena in London which I was going to attend.  

The Highclere Castle must be very popular, because, not long after I have booked my ticket, the 6 public opening days were sold out.  I felt so lucky that in November 2013, I was able to purchase a ticket for a visit to the castle in May 2014.

After booking my ticket to the Highclere Castle, I also booked my train ticket for May 27, 2014, from London to Newbury and back.

In May 2014, I traveled in the UK to see all the 8 shows of Barry Manilow's UK Tour 2014.  

Starting in London with 2 shows at the Wembley Arena on May 13th and 14th, I continued my travel -  to Ipswich, Manchester, Glasgow, Cardiff, and Southampton to see more of Barry's concerts. 

Then, on May 25, 2014,  I was back in London for Barry's show at the 02 Arena, May 26th, the last show of his UK Tour 2014. 

And... oh, YES!  Barry was fantastic!  The shows were fantastic!  Nobody on this planet can convince me otherwise.

May 27th was my day trip to visit the Highclere Castle. At 9:00 in the morning, I took the train from London-Paddington to Newbury.  It was a pleasant 1-1/2 hour ride.  But, it was overcast and I was hoping that the sun would come out later.  I was a bit disappointed with the weather and I hoped that it won't rain today.

I arrived Newbury at about 10:30 AM.  After getting some information from the locals as to what the best transportation to the Highclere Castle is, I decided to take a taxi, for security reason.  I did not want to risk getting stranded anywhere in this place which is totally unknown to me.  

The taxi driver was a pleasant young man who gave me his business card and offered to give me a discount if I take a ride in his taxi later to go back to Newbury. The taxi price was 15 Pounds each way. Not bad, considering that the taxi ride to the Highclere Castle was about 20 to 30 minutes.  

I promised to call the taxi driver later in the afternoon when I finish with my tour of the Highclere Castle and gardens.

According to the castle tour book, the Highclere Castle has been part of the Carnarvon family property since the 17th century.  The present owners are the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon.  

Here is a photo of the young and beautiful aristocratic couple, the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon - Lord and Lady Carnarvon (and their dogs), as scanned from the castle tour book:

Arriving at the Highclere Castle, I went through the ticket booth and walked towards the park.

This is the beautiful landscape that greets the visitors as they enter the Highclere Castle park.  The area is so wide and vast.  According to the castle tour book, the Highclere Castle is set on a 1,000 acre of parkland.

Then, from a distance, came my first view of the magnificent Highclere Castle.  This is a dream come true for me... to finally come "face to face" with my beloved Downton Abbey!

Here are some close-up shots to show some details:

This is the door handle of the castle's main door.

A close-up shot of the door handle.   Looks scary.

This figure sits on the ground outside the door of the Highclere Castle and is often seen in Downton Abbey.

My ticket included a tour of the castle and the gardens. I wanted to see the castle first.  I joined a tour group of about 30 people.  

We entered the familiar door of the castle.  The door is often seen on Downtown Abbey.  I was surprised to see what was inside the door.  It was a small, narrow hall, unlike the long corridor that is shown in the show.  

Photography is not allowed inside the castle.  So, I have no photos of the castle interior.

The following photos of the Highclere Castle interior were scanned from the castle tour book.

This is the first room that the castle visitors see. It is the Highclere Castle Library.  The collection of books here is amazing!

Downton Abbey fans will recognize this room as the family sitting room where the Downton Abbey family members sit and hold conversations, or make important family announcements or decisions.

On this beautiful writing desk, there is a small framed photo of the British actor Hugh Bonneville, in his Downton Abbey role as "Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham".  Look how amazing the book collection is!  And many of the books are original copies and are centuries old.

I have always imagined that all these gorgeous rooms and halls shown in Downton Abbey are at the second floor of the castle.

I was very surprised to actually see that these rooms are in fact at the first floor of Highclere Castle.

BTW, many of the people in our castle tour group are Downton Abbey fans.  There were some from the USA,  Europe,  and even from Australia.

There was no tour guide for this castle tour, but, in every room, there was a castle personnel who stood by and greeted the visitors and gave information about the room and the castle and answered the questions of the visitors.  

There were also laminated information sheets in every room for the visitors to read, but, have to be left in the room after reading.



These rooms or halls are all at the first floor of the Highclere Castle, which are mostly seen in Downton Abbey, the show:

The Dining Room is shown a lot in Downton Abbey. It is where the Downton Abbey family members take their breakfast.  This is also where the Downton Abbey dinner scenes are shot, but a smaller version of the dining table is seen.  

The gigantic painting on the left side of the wall is a Van Dyck, estimated value is said to be $38 million.
This description of the painting is from the castle tour book:
"King Charles I on horseback, accompanied by Chevalier le Sieur de St. Antoine.  Painted by Sir Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1641), Flemish Baroque-era Painter".  

We toured both the first floor and the second floor of the Highclere Castle.  I understand that the Carnarvon family lives on the third and the upper floors.

We went up the Red Staircase to go to the second floor of the castle.  This staircase is narrow and steep which I found difficult to climb.

This is the magnificent Gallery on the second floor, which is also shown on some episodes of Downton Abbey.

We went around the Gallery.  It showed a fantastic view from every side.

The second floor of the Highclere Castle are for the bedrooms. According to the castle tour book, there used to be about 80 bedrooms in the castle.  In the later years, some of the bedrooms were turned into staff flats or into meeting rooms.  Now, the castle has 50 bedrooms that are used by family guests or by some visiting important people from the politics, arts, science, business, movies, etc.

One of the rooms that we saw on the second floor is a "bedroom" that is used in Downton Abbey.  It is the bedroom of  the character "Lady Edith Crawley", played by TV/movie actress Laura Carmichael.

These are some of the bedrooms at the second floor of the Highclere Castle. 

We went down back to the first floor through The Oak Staircase.  This is the staircase that is often shown in Downton Abbey.  It is narrower and smaller than when they show it in the series.

The next photos are of those of the magnificent Saloon below the fantastic Gallery, as decorated by the present Lord and Lady Carnavon.  

In Downton Abbey, this is where the festivities are held, so with the Christmas parties and other celebrations. 

This is also where the wartime infirmary scenes of Downton Abbey were shot (minus the Carnarvon furniture and decorations).  I guess, when Downton Abbey is on film shooting here, the Carnarvon family furniture and the wall paintings are removed.

In Downton Abbey, there is an "upstairs" story and a "downstairs" story.  

The upstairs story is about the lives of the members of the aristocratic Crawley family who owns Downton Abbey. 

The downstairs story is about the lives of the staff/servants (Butler, Housekeeper, Valet, footmen, cooks, servers, maids, etc.).

Downton Abbey's presentation of the "downstairs" area for the staff/servants is based on facts.   There really was a working area for the castle staff in the Highclere Castle's cellar (basement) about 100 years ago.   

This is the staircase that led down to castle basement where the kitchen and the castle staff/servants working area were located.

This is the view of the Saloon, from the castle staff staircase.

On some "behind the scene" videos of Downton Abbey, the "downstairs" area was shown as a TV film set that was built somewhere else, and not in the Highclere Castle.  

I would not think that the TV people can actually work in the basement of the Highclere Castle.  Looking at the castle from outside, there are no windows to be seen for the basement area.




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I will end Part 1 of my Highclere Castle story here. 

In Part 2, I will post more of my own pictures of the Highclere Castle and of the beautiful castle garden.

Thank you for reading.


Lulu Lange
Worms, Germany