So excited about this week’s trip to Highclere Castle, the home of Downton Abbey. I’ve been a huge fan for many years, so this was a real treat for me.
I decided to take an organized tour and after reviewing all of the options, chose Premium Tours. They offered a full day tour to Oxford, Bampton (the village where outdoor scenes were filmed for Downton Abbey) and then Highclere Castle. They really did a fabulous job and I highly recommend them for any day trips leaving from London.
To begin with, they do a hotel pick-up service, which was really quite lovely. They picked me up right outside of the Earl’s Court station, which was very convenient for me, and took us all to Victoria Station. Now, if you’ve never been to Victoria Coach Station, you might be a bit put off. It’s really not a nice place. Dirty, smelly & crowded. But its the only place for buses that leave out of London, so you just have to suffer through if you want to take a tour.
Thankfully I only had a 15 minute wait before boarding our Premium Tours bus. Very comfortable, clean, spacious and roomy. It was a double-decker bus, but I opted to sit downstairs as I wanted some quiet time to take a short nap (had to get up pretty darn early to get the hotel pick-up). I can’t recall our tour guide’s name, but she was really quite wonderful, providing narrative pretty much the whole way. Told us about things we were passing, about the Cotswolds as an area, background on places we would visit. No worries, I was able to get a nap in even while she was talking 🙂
We arrived fairly quickly at Oxford, which is one of the oldest universities in the english speaking world (St. Andrews in Scotland is the oldest I believe). It’s interesting to note that Oxford University is made up of 38 totally independent self-governing colleges. The university provides support services like administrative support, exams and graduation, and teaching resources. The first college was established in the 12th century. In the 13th century, there were riots between the townspeople and student scholars (and perhaps even a murder) at Oxford and some of the students fled west and became established at what would later become Cambridge University. There really is quite some competition between the two; you aren’t supposed to say the “C” word while at Oxford. It is a very pretty university, as you can see from the pictures below. Christ Church is where Harry Potter dining hall scenes were filmed, for those of you who are fans. Students still raise livestock, as well as play sports, on Christ Church Meadows.
After our tour of the University, we had some free time to stroll through the town of Oxford. There was a lovely open air market with a wide range of items, from fresh produce to jewelry stores, to meat markets to ladies fine clothing. Very interesting. Stopped and grabbed a bite to eat to have on the bus before we left at 12:15 for our next stop.
Bampton is a beautiful quaint little village on the edge of the Cotswolds in Oxfordshire. Our bus stopped at St. Mary the Virgin Church, which was the site of St. Michael and All Angels Church, the Crawley’s place of worship and where several weddings took place.
From here, we had free time to walk the streets where we could view the outside of Mrs. (Isobel) Crawley’s house, then the village green (much smaller than it appeared on TV), then the site of the hospital, the post office, the Dog and Duck Inn, and the Grantham Arms. I wish I could describe for you how fun this was, to wander where some of my favorite characters roamed. So many things that were instantly recognizable. Really a treat. Please enjoy the pictures – each has a caption describing the picture.
Mrs Crawley’s house:
The Village Green and the hospital
The post office,the Dog & Duck Inn, Church Street and Grantham Arms
I also walked through the center of the village to enjoy the character of a small english village.
Of course, our next stop was the highlight of the trip….Highclere Castle. The current Highclere was built in 1842 and designed by the same architect that designed the current House of Parliament (you can see similarities). It is currently the home of the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon. The family has lived here for over 300 years. The current family lives in the castle during winter months and moves to another residence on the property during the summer. Lady Almina, who was an illegitimate child of a Rothschild, married the 5th Earl with a huge dowry. When the First World War broke out, Almina turned Highclere Castle into a hospital and admitted patients coming back from the trenches. After the war, her husband, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun with Howard Carter in 1922. The next Earl married Lady Catherine, who was a wealthy American who helped save the castle from being sold.
As we drove up the long winding drive, the bus started playing the theme song to Downton Abbey. A little cheesy I know, and yet it got everyone really excited. Walking up the drive to the main entrance was like a dream.
Here is the biggest disappointment….you can’t take pictures inside the castle. So sorry I can’t share what the inside looked like. But you’ve seen it all on the television, so perhaps you can use your imagination because it mostly looked just like it does on TV. We walked in the front door and turned left to go into the library, the scene of so many conversations over tea. Remember the picture of the young boy that Cora says she doesn’t know who it is in the episode where they all give tours to the townsfolk? Yup, it’s there, along with over 5600 books, some dating back to the 18th century. The tea-table is set up as though we would all sit down and have a nice conversation (of course, the seating is roped off so we really couldn’t even if we wanted to….and trust me, I wanted to!) Lord Grantham’s desk is there too. We then walked through the Music Room and the Drawing Room (where the Countesses would conduct their work of running the house; the walls are lined with green silk) and then on to the Grand Saloon – the huge room in the center of the castle. The walls are lined with leather! Such a magnificent room in person. We also walked through the Dining Room where there is a portrait of Charles I and where the Crawley family held all of their meals. Finally, up the servants stairs to view Cora’s bedroom, Syble’s bedroom and the bedroom where the count died while in a compromising position with Mary in the first season. And then down the beautiful grand staircase. I must admit, I walked down twice just for the experience. Sadly, the tour of the house was over way too soon.
We walked down the servants stairs to the “downstairs” area. Downton Abbey scenes were not filmed here, but it is the location of the Tea Room. I of course felt I must have tea while at Highclere, so I ordered tea and scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam and sat outside to enjoy them. Lovely experience.
I then wandered the lawn of the castle. The stables have been turned into a gift shop where I did a little shopping. The lawn is beautiful and I imagined myself walking down paths much as the characters did, particularly Mary with her various beau’s. The gardens are just beautiful; I unfortunately did not have time to see them all (I spent most of my time in the house I must admit). I did wander down to Jackdaw’s Castle, a folly built in 1743 (a folly is an ornamental building in a garden or park with no purpose).
Sadly, the day was over too soon. It was a tremendously fun and entertaining tour that I enjoyed very much. If you get a chance, and you love the series, this is a must-do tour!
Next week, I will tell you all about our trips to York and Bath. Until then,
Cheers Mates!
Mind The Gap 
Great Post
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Thanks!
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welcome
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Nice post
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