Basingstoke and Deane District

We left Oxford on a breezy, cloudy, cool morning after having a lovely chat with our hosts - Pauline & Peter.
We arrived at the castle after driving in along a long driveway and parking in a field and there it is just like you see in the series except that there were a queue of people waiting for entry standing along the driveway.
It is a wonderful experience as everything you see from the moment you arrive is as you see in Downton Abbey series.
The castle is amazing inside with masses of paintings and massive tapestries and the outside lawns and gardens are sprawling. It also has many family photo's scattered in every room which often include members of the royal family.
It is a credit to the castle that during the filming there were no changes made to the actual home. I will be revisiting a few episodes to check out the scenery indoors and out.
We were able to visit several rooms on the ground floor and first floor and then exit through the basement area, aka servants quarters. You could not access the second floor or towers.
The family live in the house beside the castle and actually still spend a lot of time in the castle, particularly when entertaining.
The only disappointment is that you can't take photo's inside.
The exit off the property is an even longer drive out of the grounds. This property is 5000 acres!!!

Phil - Wendy saved the best till last. This was the best castle we went to in the trip. Yes, all of the others had something good going for them, but this was a stand out. Seeing pictures in many rooms, of the way they used it in the Downton Abbey series, really gave you a good insight, as to how it would have been back then.
The place was huge, and also seeing pictures of the children brought up in the castle, makes you think that a game of Hide & Seek could have lasted days.Lue lisää