Page 39 - WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE DISCOVERING ENGLAND
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Photos courtesy of Highclere Castle
Photos courtesy of ITV
60,000 visitors annually, many of whom come This house has its own "bones": a fascinating Above: Scenes of Downton Abbey in
on bus tours. The house and its fabulous gar- history that includes a mummy's curse, love past seasons. Opposite top: Highclere
dens, refined by the great British landscape triangles, pressing financial burdens and pe- Castle known to millions of TV view-
architect Lancelot "Capability" Brown, are riods when successive lords and ladies con- ers as Downton Abbey.
open on a seasonal basis. verted their home into a military hospital Top right: Highclere gardens, refined
and a wartime refuge for young children. by the great British landscape
Visitors are drawn here by the TV series, but architect Lancelot “Capability” Brown.
the unexpected story they find at Highclere Dating to the late 1600s, Highclere is the
is even more compelling than the roman- ancestral home of the Carnarvon family. The
tic, political and financial exploits of the fic- present Earl of Carnarvon and his second wife,
tional Crawleys and their cadre of servants. the Countess Carnarvon, live in the castle as
Winter 2014 winedineandtravel.com 39
