Welcome
As we close out the year, we’ll be doing a few different things in each week’s Issue.
This week we take a look at some of the different places we have visited (there are many more) to do with the successful tv series Downton Abbey.
In the coming weeks we will be looking at Christmas here in the UK and Europe and looking back on all the places we visited this year.
My family starts arriving next week. I am very excited to see my parents on Wednesday morning. It’s been almost a year since I saw them last.
What are your plans for the holidays? We will be putting up our lights and decorations over the next week. It’s getting dark at 4pm here now! Which is only good in that you can see the Christmas lights without having to go out after 10pm, like we used to do in Australia.
As always, I hope you enjoy Traveling Through History with me this weekend.
Michelle
Savvy Travel Historian
Downton Abbey Tour
Background
There wouldn’t be many of you reading this newsletter each week that haven't heard of the British historical drama series Downton Abbey.
Downton is set in the early 20thC, with the opening episode starting on the day after the Titanic sank in 1912 and the six seasons, plus two movies, finish in 1928.
The aristocratic Crawley family live in Yorkshire and the trials and tribulations of them, their family and friends, as well as their servants ‘downstairs’ provides us with a view into life during those times.
The series artfully intertwines the complex and evolving social hierarchy of the time, highlighting the stark contrasts and interdependencies between the upper and lower classes.
The acclaimed series strived to be historically accurate not only in retelling of events, such as WWI, the Spanish Flu pandemic and the Irish War of Independence, but also in its set and costume design. Besides winning Golden Globe Awards, BAFTAs and Emma Awards, it is decorated in many categories including for its actors, director , musical score, hairstyling and costume & set design.
Downton Village - Bampton, Oxfordshire
Located around 50 minutes west of Oxford, Bampton is a typical Cotswold village whose history dates back to the Iron Age and Roman periods. Its earliest documented mention is in the Exeter Book of 1070, followed by its listing as ‘Bentone’ in the Domesday Book of 1086.
The village is used for many exterior scenes in the series.
Church View
Appearing in almost every episode of Downton the ‘village green’ at Bampton is a hub of activity where characters come and go, as they go about their business at the village shops and hospital.
Mrs Crawley’s House
Right off of Church View is the house occupied by Mrs Crawley and her son Matthew, before he moved to the Abbey after he married Lady Mary. Named ‘Churchgate House’, it was the Old Rectory for the church next door.
The main front exterior of the house was rebuilt in 1799 but the rear of the house has a 16th or 17thC doorway, which gives an indication that parts of the house are much older.
A number of times throughout the series we see the house from the church yard as people leave.
St Michael and All Angels - Downton Church
Called St Michael and All Angels church in the series, the Church of England parish church of Saint Mary the Virgin, is used many times throughout all six seasons.
It is dated back to the 10th or 11thC where it was a late Saxon Minster. The church, rebuilt in the 12th century in a Norman style, later received Gothic additions, and was restored in the late 19thC by architect Ewan Christian.
This stone statue of John the Baptist, fell from the tower roof during a storm in 1990 and is believed to be from around 1270.
The interior of the church will be familiar for the many wedding scenes that were held. Mary and Matthew, Carson and Mrs Hughes, Edith and Bertie, then later Mary and Henry.
The graveyard at the church is also seen frequently in the show.
During many episodes, characters can be seen walking out of church down this path towards the gate leading out into the village green.
Downton Hospital
The Bampton Library is the setting for the Downton Hospital. It has a small ‘Downton’ information shop, where you can purchase souvenirs like tea towels and pick up a route map, to make sure you see all of the buildings used in the show.
Just down from the hospital is the Downton Post Office (black car parked out the front on the right) and the Dog and Duck pub (the next building along).
Relevant Travel Information:
Tourist information on Bampton can be found here:
https://www.cotswolds.com/plan-your-trip/towns-and-villages/bampton-p2081963
Downton Place - Greys Court, Oxfordshire
Located 5 minutes west of Henley-On-Thames, Greys Court is a listed property operated by the National Trust.
In Downton Abbey, Greys Court is a property owned by the Earl of Grantham and they visit it when they are contemplating moving due to financial losses incurred by a bad investment Robert has made. The family believe they will need to sell the Abbey and move elsewhere. Lady Gantham suggests they call the property ‘Downton Place’.
The family takes luncheon on the lawns out the front of the house.
The property owned by the influential de Grey family dates back 900 years. The family were already living there when the Domesday Book of 1086 listed it under their ownership.
At one time a medieval house was sited on the lawns out the front, but in the 1450s the current manor was built which now has different building periods from Tudor, Georgian, Victorian and some 20thC additions, inside and out.
The garden is particularly lovely and was revitalised when Lady Brunner arrived in 1937, commenting how derelict it was from years of neglect.
The walled garden was created as a series of ‘rooms’ with gates and archways used to stunning effect.
A 300 year old wisteria is in one section of the walled garden.
A series of paths and corridors gives one the impression we are on a trail, which leads to other parts of the garden.
In a future edition highlighting Nation Trust properties, I will give an indepth look at Greys Court.
Relevant Travel Information:
All details about visiting Greys Court can be found here:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/oxfordshire-buckinghamshire-berkshire/greys-court
Downton Abbey - Highclere Castle - Hampshire
Issue 2 of Traveling Through History did a deep dive into Highclere, the ‘real’ Downton Abbey.
You can look back on this issue via the following link:
https://travelingthroughhistory.substack.com/p/traveling-through-history-ef6
Located south-west of England, around 114 kms from London, it is best reached by car, which takes approximately 1.5hrs.
The family seat of the Earls of Carnarvon, Highclere features prominently in every episode and both movies.
The Jacobean style castle sits on 1,000 acres of largely landscaped grounds designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown.
The wildflower meadow seen here was featured in Series 6 when Edith and Cora are strolling around the grounds discussing her proposed marriage to Bertie Pelham.
This shot from the official Instagram page shows the scene in question.
This bench in the garden has often been used by the characters to contemplate their lives, or have a good cry.
During the tour of the house, we see many areas that are included in the series and films but unfortunately they don’t allow pictures to be taken.
But if you haven’t been, you can get a feel for the decoré inside by looking at these production images released.
The Staircase
The magnificent staircase at Highclere features many times, like in this shot from the second movie.
The Dining Room
The family has all of their meals here, whether it is a party of 20 or 2 or 3 of them. The elaborate table is always laid out very elegantly, even for ‘informal’ family dinners.
Earl & Countess of Grantham’s Bedroom
Over the different seasons, the beds used by the main characters changed a couple of times (although not mentioned at all).
Here we see Robert and Cora’s bedroom with the four-poster canopy bed. This scene is from Season 6. In earlier seasons they did not have the canopy or the same headboard.
Lady Mary’s Bedroom
The tour of Highclere also includes Lady Mary’s bedroom, Lady Edith’s bedroom and Mr Pamuk’s room, where he was carried by Mary, Cora and Anna after his death.
Christmas Time - The Salon
My mum and I will be visiting Highclere for a special Christmas guided tour on December 12 and we are looking forward to it.
Just like in the series the Christmas Tree is placed in the center of one end of the salon.
This image from the series shows a view from upstairs looking down.
Relevant Travel Information:
Tickets and visitor information can be found here:
https://highclerecastleshop.co.uk/categories/admission-tickets
Haxby Hall - Waddesdon Manor - Buckinghamshire
In Season Two, Sir Richard Carlisle purchases Haxby Hall for him and Lady Mary to live in once they are married. Their visit prior to acquiring the property shows an outside glimpse before they are seen inside talking about the house from an upper floor.
The house shown in the outside shot was Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire.
The Grade I listed property now under the umbrella of the National Trust sees almost 500,000 visitors a year.
Built for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild between 1874 and 1889 as a weekend retreat for entertaining, the house is styled on a French châteaux and contains a unique collection of art and antiquities that is one of the most rare and valuable collections in the world.
The grounds are spectacular and the parterre garden at the back is breathtaking, especially in the spring.
In a future issue we will explore the house further.
Relevant Travel Information:
Details on visiting Waddesdon Manor can be found here:
https://waddesdon.org.uk/your-visit/
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Michelle is a speaker, author, content marketer, historian and mother of 3 boys.
After 25 years in business and as the ‘Content Marketing Queen’ for the past 12 years, she has helped countless small businesses understand and develop their content strategies and focus on a customer first approach.
Savvy Travel Historian is her passion project, and her weekly newsletter is available on Substack, Paragraph and Mirror. The latter two allows you to collect each Issue as an NFT.
Michelle is co-host of the Business on the Bloc podcast, a weekly show which talks about the digital media revolution and how it applies to B2B marketing, sales and operations. The show is recorded live every Wednesday at 4pm EST/ 9pm UTC on LinkedIn, YouTube & Bolt+.
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