London 2013: Part 3

On our fourth day in London, we jumped on a train to Newbury to see the Highclere Castle (aka Downton Abbey castle)! Y'all, I can not express how excited I was! I have watched all 3 seasons of Downton Abbey and I am a little obsessed. So here it goes.. First, let me give a few details.

Since 1679, the castle has been home to the Carnarvon family. The castle is set on more than 1,000 acres and has at least 50 bedrooms. The man that designed the exterior architecture was the same man that designed the Westminster Palace (Parliament) exterior. The current Lord and Lady Carnarvon (Georgie and Fiona) live on the estate today but do not live in the Highclere Castle. All of the furniture and decor that is in Downton Abbey is the original decor of Highclere Caste, which I thought was neat! One thing that I did notice a difference in was that there were pictures everywhere displayed of the Carnarvon family. It was neat to see all the history of the people that used to rule the estate.

We got to tour the first two floors and to my surprise, there were several rooms that were not shown in Downton Abbey like the Gentleman's room and Woman's room. The Gentleman's room was used for drinking, smoking, and lounging. The Woman's room was a place for morning tea. We didn't get to tour the maids quarters and I am not even sure that the rooms they show on Downton Abbey are really apart of the Highclere castle. They may have filmed it in a different location. I am not certain, though.

Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside but thanks to the show, you can know exactly what it looks like inside! :)

Ava was happy to be at the Downton Abbey castle ;)

A couple of scenes were filmed here.

I can't believe I am at the Downton Abbey castle!!! Unreal!

Recognize this bench? There are several scenes in Downton Abbey that are filmed here.

This is the entrance to the garden. It wasn't so pretty because none of the flowers were in bloom but I bet it is beautiful in the summer time.

Remember in the show where they have a similar device? This is the original row of bells in Highclere and could best be described as a (dare I say) cell phone? Each bell has a slightly different tone so the maids could tell which part of the house was ringing for them and this device would also show which part of the house was ringing.

We spent 3 hours at the Highclere castle and I could have stayed all day! It was so much fun just to walk around outside with the castle in the background. Once our cab arrived to pick us up, we went to the train stop to catch a train back to London. We ate dinner in London then headed to our hotel to get some sleep because the next morning, we were heading to Scotland!