Highclere Castle
Housing an Egyptian Exhibition, being apart of both World Wars, and playing a character in Downton Abbey.
A castle that many of us have admired on our TV screens for years. Highclere has stood the test of time with early records dating back to the 700s. Playing its part throughout both World Wars, the castle can be found in Hampshire, England. Owned by an English aristocratic family for centuries and sitting on a 5000 acre estate, this terrific building is open to the public throughout July and August. And our destination today stole all our hearts in Downton Abbey.
The very beginning
Beginning our tale back in the Iron Age, if we were to visit the Highclere estate, we would find a Hill Fort dominating the southern English landscape. The earliest written records for the estate are all the way back in 749, where an early Anglo-Saxon charter recorded the existence of buildings near where the current castle stands.
It’s understood to be around this time, give or take a hundred years, when the Anglo-Saxon King granted the estate to the Bishops of Winchester. The Bishops moved in and enjoyed it so much they stayed for the next 800 years.
It’s reported that Bishop William of Wykeham built a beautiful medieval palace, supposedly the bishop’s residence, and gardens on the park.
Later records reveal to us a medieval palace had been built during the 12th and 13th centuries. Although, this was replaced by a much loved red brick Tudor house.
During the Protestant Reformation of 1551, Edward VI, king at the time, confiscated the property from the church and granted it to the Fitzwilliam family. Highclere had a couple of owners, over the next century, before it ended up in the hands of Sir Robert Sawyer.
Sawyer was quite well thought of, Attorney General to both Charles II and James II, he rebuilt the Bishop’s medieval palace as Highclere Place House in 1679.
When he died, Sawyer’s nephew and heir, Henry Herbert, inherited the House in 1769 and in 1793 he was created the 1st Earl of Carnarvon by George III.
On the build
The 1st Earl decided that the old red brick house that had been built by his predecessor needed an upgrade and wanted it converted into a classical Georgian mansion, as was the rage at the time.
To get this going he employed Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in 1771. Nicknamed for his can-do attitude, Brown was well-known for his grand ideas and ability to manipulate large parts of the English landscape to make them appear natural and unplanned.
Even a small village on the estate was not an obstacle. Brown had it moved to make space for a 1000 acre park with ‘rolling lawns and placid lakes’. He also planted a large number of trees, including 56 Lebanon Cedars on the road leading to the house. It’s believed that the seeds for the trees were brought to England from Lebanon in the 17th century.
Throughout his career, Brown became responsible for 170 gardens throughout the English countryside and Highclere was one of them.
In 1842, Sir Charles Barry took mainstage when he finished his final designs for the proposed castle for the 3rd Earl. At the time he was working on the Houses of Parliament and his particular influence can be seen in both buildings.
Barry remodelled the Georgian manor house in the Elizabethan style of the age, transforming Highclere Place House into Highclere Castle. The interior and exterior ended up taking decades to complete, but it was all worth it because the Castle became known for its opulence. Even Benjamin Disraeli, British PM once-upon-a-time, proclaimed:
“How Scenical! How Scenical!”
when referring to Highclere Castle.
Once the structural interior was finally completed in 1878, the Castle became a centre for political life during the late Victorian era. In 1867, the 4th Earl, with some help from the first Canadian PM, John A. Macdonald, drew up the Constitution of Canada in the British North America Act.
Later on in 1910, the Castle experienced another first when Sir Geoffrey De Havilland made his first flight on the Highclere Estate.
Highclere Castle was the epitome of Edwardian confidence and glamour at the start of the 20th century. Visitor books even record house parties that were chock full of ‘politicians, technological innovators, Egyptologists, aviators and soldiers’.
The War, part I
Throughout the First World War, the Castle really came into its own. Converted to a hospital for wounded soldiers, patients began arriving from Flanders in September 1914.
The 5th Countess, Almina Wombwell (we’ll hear more about her later) ran the house hospital becoming an ‘adept nurse and a skilled healer’. Hundreds of letters from patients and their families describe the spirit of generosity and untiring work of the 5th Countess.
Every part of the castle was used, with the Arundel room being used as an Operating Theatre and its dressing room as a Recovery Room. And once the war was over, well, the Castle returned to being a private family home.
The Great Egyptian
But the Castle doesn’t just have one claim to fame. In 1907, the 5th Earl found a willing partner in Howard Carter when searching Egypt for Tutankhamun’s tomb. With the tomb being discovered and the following global media event in 1922, the Earl and Carter had spent more than 16 years and over £500 000 in their search. What a testament to the phrase: ‘Never give up!’
Unfortunately the Earl wasn’t able to enjoy the success that the discovery of the tomb brought for very long, as he died a year later in 1923. Blood poisoning and then pneumonia was what got him in the end when he accidentally nicked an infected mosquito bite while shaving. Although there are some theories floating around that his death was the cause of the Curse of the Pharaoh.
A little while down the track, in 1988, some Egyptian artefacts that had been hidden away and forgotten about where rediscovered in secret cupboards at Highclere.
The Time Magazine has a pretty good version of the story:
It was 1988, when the 7th Earl, grandson of the 5th Earl, thought he knew all of the treasures in the Castle, until Robert, the 75-year-old butler, pointed out there was extra Egyptian stuff laying about. In secret hidden cupboards was found more than 300 artefacts that had sat quietly for more than 70 years. Included in the hoard was the 3200 year old carved wooden face of Amenophis III. No one knows who ‘squirrelled them away’ but it’s believed that the 6th Earl, son of the 5th Earl,
“was furious after he lost a lawsuit in 1924 against the Egyptian government for a half share of the crypt’s riches. Miffed, the aristocrat forbade any mention of Egypt.”
Most of the treasures from the Earl and Carter’s excavations have been donated to the British Museum, but some of the objects found in 1988 can been seen in the Castle’s very own Egyptian Exhibition. Which I’m told is a wonderful experience.
The War, part II
The Castle also played a part in the Second World War. It became a home to children evacuated from North London. You can even still see their names, where they etched them into the roof lead.
And throughout the war, military planes from four nations crash landed on the Highclere Estate.
The Castle, inside and out
So you’ve heard a little about the Castle’s history, now let me tell you about what to expect if you visit.
So as you walk into the Castle itself, the first awesome thing you will see will be the Saloon. It’s basically the heart of the house both physically and socially. And has been made popular by those gorgeous interior shots in Downton Abbey. The room itself was designed for the 4th Earl by Thomas Allom in a gothic style with rich decoration. This decoration can be seen in the leather wall coverings which were brought back from Córdoba Spain by the 3rd Earl. You’ll actually find matching panels in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. With a 50 feet vaulted ceiling it’s definitely worth a look in the upwards direction.
The State Dining room, primarily used for dining, is naturally dominated by a Van Dyck equestrian portrait of who else, but Charles I. And it’s flanked by Carnarvon ancestor portraits from the English Civil War of the 1640s.
The Library, also prominently featured in Downton Abbey, had its heyday in the late Victorian era. It’s primary function, apart from holding books, is as a focal meeting point for drinks and conversation both before and after lunch and dinner. The Library holds over 5650 books, with the earliest of those dating from the 16th century.
It’s the Drawing room that holds a secret that we’ve already discovered in this episode. The narrow cupboards found between the double doors leading from the drawing room into the smoking room was where the Egyptian artefacts were found, supposedly hidden by the 6th Earl.
Moving upstairs, there are 12 bedrooms off the first-floor gallery, which conveniently looks down on to the saloon. Plus there a further 40-50 rooms on the second and third floors. Many of the rooms have been or are in the process of being refurbished by the current Lady Carnarvon through the use of prints and drawings from the Castle archives.
If you go through the green baize door leading off the Saloon you will find a stone staircase. This staircase has access up to all three floors and down to what were the old staff dining rooms, the cellars, sitting rooms, utility areas and kitchens. Some of these rooms have since been converted into rooms for the Egyptian Exhibition.
Apart from the staff stairs there are two main staircases that are used by the family and their guests. The Oak Staircase (as seen in Downton Abbey) was designed by Thomas Allom and fills the Italinate tower built by Sir Charles Barry in 1842. The carvers, Cox and Son of London took nearly a whole year to carve and install the staircase in the early 1860s. The Red Staircase is hidden around the corner a little and primarily leads up to the second floors and the former nursery rooms.
Moving outside, the Park of Highclere sits on 1000 acres of sweeping parkland, as designed by the previously mentioned 18th century landscape gardener ‘Capability’ Brown.
Highclere boasts some gorgeous gardens. To the southeast of the Castle, you’ll find the Monks’ Garden. Appropriately named after the original owners of the land, the Bishops of Winchester. Records back in 1218, list 61 fruit trees. Over the years, this has been replanted into a more decorative garden, including climbing roses, penstemons, agapanthus, geranium and lavender. With a glass house full of Tea Roses and peaches and nectarines. Behind a yew hedge you will find the White Border Garden. Where white roses and clematis grow up dark green obelisks. Other plants, like peonies, hydrangeas and poppies give some great foliage year round. A gate in the White Garden will take you into the Secret Garden with curving borders, serpentine paths and some awesome colour displays in July and August. Pass the Secret Garden is the Wood of Goodwill. The wood is newly planted with 38 native British trees which include beech and oak. And a walk up the hill will take you past a wild flower meadow, which is regularly featured on Lady Carnarvon’s Instagram page.
There are several follies throughout the estate. Follies are basically functionless architectural features. They were created so that there were quiet places to pause, reflect and contemplate the beauty of the surrounding landscape during walk abouts. Near the Castle on the East Lawn is the pillared Temple known as Jackdaw’s Castle. It was built by Robert Herbert in 1743 to provide a charming view from the Castle and can be seen in some scenes in Downton Abbey. Also located to the east of the house is the Temple of Diana, built towards the end of the 18th century, featuring some nice looking Corinthian columns. Heaven’s Gate and The Grotto can be seen from the summer walks and there’s also an Etruscan temple folly on the southwest side of the castle on the edge of the woodland walks. It’s assumed there have been other follies throughout the centuries but these are believed to have been lost to history.
Throughout the estate and the wider landscape, there have been recent archaeological and landscape investigations that have found two hill forts and several ancient burial mounds dating from the Iron and Bronze ages. It’s also believed that in the Medieval times the Bishops of Winchester wanted a deer park. So old mate William of Wykeham created at least 2 deer parks, because why have just one when you can have two, as well as enclosing rabbit and hare warrens. Records from 1370, also show the presence of 5 fish ponds on the northern boundary of the estate.
When Downton came to stay
Downton Abbey was the Castles first time in front of the camera. Although some of the rooms and the gardens have appeared in several tv shows and movies. Probably the most famous being Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut from 1999. But back to Downton Abbey, many of the rooms we’ve already talked about can been seen throughout the series. But the staff rooms downstairs were recreated at Ealing Studios in London, because the rooms at the Castle had been renovated into a wonderful Egyptian Exhibition. With the series running from 2010-2015, and the film premiering in 2019, the current Earl and Countess have managed to restore parts of the Castle that were falling apart by cementing a deal with the film studio to hire Highclere at ‘£1 million an hour’.
The family
We’ve heard a lot about the Castle and its grounds, so now let’s hear a little about the people that have lived in the Castle.
So since the 1st Earl, Highclere has been the home of the aristocratic Carnarvon family, and has even entertained the Kings and Queens of England along the way, not to mention other members of the nobility and even some celebrities.
In the 19th century, it was common for owners of British manor houses to find themselves ‘land rich’ but ‘cash poor’. In these instances, particularly after the War, the owners would be forced to sell the homes they couldn’t afford to upkeep. The 5th Earl was one such British manor house owner.
In its prime, George Herbert employed over 25 domestic staff, these included daily cleaners and staff in the kitchens. He did some serious spending to keep him in the lifestyle to which he had grown accustomed. Predictably, this led the 5th Earl to find himself in some serious debt and he almost lost the Castle. Lucky for him he was able to marry into some money.
Baron Alfred de Rothschild, of the famous banking Rothschilds, had an illegitimate daughter spare, and so offered her to the Earl. And so in 1895, Almina Victoria Maria Alexandra Wombwell married George Herbert, Earl of Carnarvon in an arranged marriage for £150 000. Luckily this covered all of the Earl’s debts and Almina even had a spare £500 000 of her illegitimate inheritance to buy her way into the English upper-class high society. If you recall what I said, roughly 10 mins ago, you would remember that Almina is the very same Countess that became a nurse when caring for the wounded soldiers from the front during the First World War.
The current Earl, the 8th that is, and the Countess are active members in the running of the estate. And a fun little tidbit, the current Earl is actually the godson of good old Queen Lizzie. The Earl’s father, the 7th Earl, was the Queen’s racing manager and close friend from 1969 until his death in 2001. And he even makes an appearance in the Netflix series, The Crown, not the real guy, obviously, but his character.
Now, there is way too much history to shove into this one little episode. So if I’ve whetted your appetite, there’s some great resources from the Earl and Countess themselves, including books on the fabulous Almina and Lady Carnarvon even has a blog with some awesome details of the Castle and its grounds and history.
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