I visited Highclere Castle for a Valentine's Day themed tour of the castle and champagne afternoon tea. The castle tour included a visit to the different rooms and a self-guided tour of the lower ground level where there is a museum on Egyptian artefacts and replicas. The Lord Carnavron, who owned the estate in the 1920s financially backed Howard Carter in the search for Egyptian tombs and located the tomb of King Tutankhamun. In addition to its historical significance with helping to locate the hidden treasures in Egypt, Highclere Castle is recognised for being the home of the fictional Grantham family in "Downton Abbey". The popular television series, which aired in the mid-2010s for six seasons, produced three films. The third and final film was released at the end of last year.
For Valentine's Day, the castle was decorated with beautiful pink, red, and white flowers in the different rooms and on the bannister of the great staircase. Photographs inside the castle are not permitted.
I used to live not far from Highclere Castle when I lived in Basingstoke. The nearest town is Newbury. Of course, the fictional "Downton Abbey" is located in Yorkshire. Many years ago, I visited Highclere Castle when I went with friends to Battle Proms and Picnic at Highclere Castle.
I had never watched "Downton Abbey" before. Actually, I did see the first film in the cinema as I had the unlimited cinema, but I did not know the characters, and coming into it in the middle was difficult to follow. Because I have wanted to visit Highclere Castle for several years, I decided that I should binge-watch the television series "Downton Abbey" before my visit as I had never sen it. Many of the interior shots are of the castle, including the main hall (saloon) and many other rooms except the "downstairs" scenes. We explored the upstairs floor first, where the bedrooms are. Some of these rooms were used in filming, such as Cora's room (below), Edith's room, and a red bedroom.
Afterwards, we explored the beautiful ground floor rooms - the library, withdrawing room, smoking room, dining room, parlour, and additional rooms. Many of these rooms were used in the filming.
After the house tour, we went into the lowest level to see the museum of Egyptian items discovered in the 1920s. There were also replica items from King Tut's tomb and a recreation on how they discovered the room through little windows and saw the gold glimmering. When we finished this, we headed to the stable yard to enjoy afternoon tea.
I had the vegetarian menu. The sandwiches were egg, coronation chickpea, cucumber, and cheese.
Next up was the scone with strawberry jam and clotted cream.
We were served a chocolate and glass of champagne in respect for Valentine's Day, and the afternoon tea was also Valentine's Day-themed.
I received three mini desserts. The first was the swan filled with sweet cream, made of choux pastry. There was also a heart-shaped shortbread with a raspberry cream. The third was a Victoria sponge with cream and jam.
Afterwards, I had a wander around the estate. I captured some views that are recognisable.
The stables area behind the castle was not usd in filming, but the gift shop is here as is the restaurant.
Further down the hill from the castle is a memorial to air men who lost their lives during World War II. I knew that the highest point in Hampshire was here in this location, and it so happened that in bad weather, the pilots had a bad accident and crashed onto the hil. One was an aircraft of American pilots.
I went to explore the garden as well.
The bench next to the tree was used in the filming in a few scenes.
Afterwards, I caught a glimpse of some nice scenery and architecture on leaving the estate.
Highclere estate is more than 1,300 years old. It belonged to Winchester bishops and was purchased with a house built on it in the late-1600s. The currnt house dates from the mid-1800s by the same architect who built the Houses of Parliament.
The Valentine's Day visit with afternoon tea also came with a book written by one of the owners of Highclere Castle and the estate. The book "At Home at Highclere" has historical information, photographs, and recipes. I also purchased the Highclere Castle gin and Highclere Castle champagne in the gift shop.
I dressed up for my visit to Highclere Castle.
For those who wish to see what the castle interior looked like, decorated for Valentine's Day, see the Instagram post. You may also wish to re-visit my post about the Battle Proms and Picnic at Highclere Castle from several years ago.
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