Return To Downton

With a hotly anticipated film on the horizon, we meet Lady Carnarvon, chatelaine of the ‘real’ Downton Abbey

- Natasha Foges

Whizzing down Highclere Castle’s drive in a taxi, I travel back in time. The ravishing castle set in rolling parkland harks back to a more gracious age; the cedars on the lawn were planted centuries ago. My driver, a Downton Abbey fan, brings me back to the present: “Tell them they should do another series!”

Highclere’s current occupants are George (Geordie) Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon, and the Countess of Carnarvon (known as Lady Carnarvon), who married in 1999. They live in part of the castle with their son, Edward, and manage its day-to-day life.

Before a certain TV show, Highclere spent its days hosting weddings and the occasional film crew. When Julian Fellowes decided to set Downton Abbey here in 2010, it gave Highclere an extraordinary second wind. Some 270 million viewers around the world have tuned in to follow the lives, loves and misadventures of the aristocratic Crawley family. Highclere plays such a starring role that it’s almost a character in itself, and it’s now one of the most famous homes in the world.

But the Downton phenomenon is a mere footnote in the house’s long history. The land on which Highclere stands has been inhabited since prehistoric times. A medieval palace once stood here, owned by the Bishops of Winchester for 800 years. It has been home to the Carnarvon family since 1679; the 3rd Earl brought in Sir Charles Barry (architect of the Houses of Parliament) to create the present Victorian castle in 1838.

I am shown to the famous Saloon, the heart of the house. A few weeks previously the room was bustling with crew and actors filming the long-anticipated Downton Abbey film (due for release in September), but now, it’s business as usual. A table holding a neat line of teacups testifies to the tour that will take place later; a line of schoolchildren bobs past a window, on their way to the Egyptian exhibition in the basement.