Highclere castle
With the imminent release of the new Downton Abbey film, the spotlight will once more be shone on Highclere Castle as it assumes the role of the fictional Crawley family seat. The popularity of the series and films have carved a special place in many people’s hearts for this stately home in the Hampshire countryside amid 1,000 acres of Capability Brown Arcadian parkland; yet with a history stretching back 1,300 years, Highclere has many real-life stories to tell, too.
Its current opulent Victorian incarnation, designed by Sir Charles Barry, which followed on from the Tudor, Elizabethan and Georgian designs, retains the warmth and welcome of
