A Day at Downton
Downton Abbey, better known as Highclere Castle, is a fairy-tale like destination in the middle of nowhere. The iconic castle immediately stands towers above the romantic gardens and surrounding fields. A day at Downton should be on every English bucket list - especially in summer!
[divider class="" ]How?
Downton is only open from July - September as the original family uses the house year-round. Thus, the tickets are very limited and in great demand. There are various social events throughout the year that one can attend, but it usually is exclusive and costs a fortune. Even worse, they aren’t open on Fridays and Sundays and the best weekends weren’t available. I don’t know what led me to look at the website, but I found a perfect afternoon in mid-August!
To get to Downton Abbey, there are various ways as detailed on their website. From central London, there is a train from Paddington and then taxi to and from the Castle. For us, it was much easier to drive from MK to Highclere. Thankfully, Rachel drove us!
To top up our afternoon, we decided to buy an afternoon tea session. In my mind, we would be joining the Crawleys in the sitting room! These are even harder to get tickets so we buy immediately.
[divider class="" ]The Estate
As we arrived at the Downton estate, we drove through the thousand acre estate. Instantly at the estate, we were mesmerized at the serene beauty. I kept waiting for Downton to peak beyond the trees similar to the show! Once the castle appeared, it is simply stunning - similar to the show! Unlike the show, we instantly saw the parking lot full of modern buses and cars.
Once we arrived on the grounds, we realized everyone else was much better at planning their Downton trip. The other families had brought their lunch and blankets to make for a perfect afternoon picnic. Despite the busy parking lot, it really didn’t feel busy because the grounds are massive! As we wandered, the castle views are excellent from every angle.
The Garden
Surprisingly, the gardens were lackluster. There were two gardens - the simplistic monk garden and the pretty ‘secret’ garden. All contained only native British plants which was different. Other than that, perhaps the July heat wave had wrecked the flower colors! Next, we walked to the supposedly the wild flower fields except the fields were very… well… dead. Regardless, the castle views were outstanding throughout the estate.
[divider class="" ]Downton House
Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take any photos, but I can promise you that it was exactly like the show! From the entrance to the grand saloon, the furniture is absolutely original and still is featured in the show. Outside of the show, this castle has loads of history!
The castle has a motto in old Norman French - meaning One Will I Serve. Supposedly, one could take it to mean I serve only one king, or I only serve myself… Downton is built on the site of an old English ruin in 1320 and has been continually added on throughout time. As one can imagine, the castle was built by the Charles Barry, the same one who built Parliament. The reason why the castle has (likely) survived is one of the earls discovered King Tut!
Inside the castle, the interior is ornate. Our first room is the library and is most likely the most famous room in the house. The library holds 5,500 books dating back to the early 1700s. Throughout the library, we read unique titles such has the early Americas and interesting philosophical books. Since the house is exactly like the show, I won’t go into too much detail!
Each room has a different theme. The ladies and gentlemen’s rooms are very interesting and definitely fit the tone and theme! Despite the luxury depicted on the show, the bedrooms are rather plain. The grand saloon is by far my favorite as the staircase is extremely grand - exactly something out of the old days! The saloon also had great architecture in the ceiling and fantastic coat of arms.
If we wanted to cherish the photos and memories of the interior, we could have purchased the photo album for a tidy sum in the very large gift shop at the end!
[divider class="" ]High Tea
Unfortunately, our afternoon tea was not in the sitting room with the Earl and Lady Grantham. We were extremely disappointed until we discovered that we were having tea in the Coach house. I believe it is the original stable or coach house! We were greeted by very fancy waiters and were fitted in a great spot!
The coach house was also similarly ornate as the great house. For our tea, we used Downton fine china and silver. Mary Frances and I considered if we should add these to the wedding registry! We enjoyed the feeling like royalty until our tea began!
To kick off our proper tea, we had a glass of the finest bubbly, produced by the estate, in a fine Downton champagne glass. Since I am not a big tea person, I let the ladies decide which type and we chose English Breakfast tea. I felt proper fancy!
For our main food, we had delicious sandwiches - cucumber, egg, coronation chicken, and smoked salmon. I personally preferred the coronation chicken, but enjoyed all of them! Between dessert and mains, I had my wonderful scone with fresh clotted cream and strawberry jam. For my favorite activity, dessert, we had a weird chocolate cake, carrot and ginger cake, and a wonderful Victorian sponge. My favorite dessert and the winner of the competition is the Victorian sponge!
[divider class="" ]The UnChartered Summary
As we departed the beautiful Highclere Abbey, better known as Downton Abbey, we were enchanted as the sun was setting behind the glorious castle! By far, Downton is a highlight of our U.K. travels!
