Interview with Lord Carnarvon – Inside the real Downton Abbey

Lord Carnarvon talks to Dream Escape about the challenges and reality of running and maintaining Highclere Castle in the 21st century.

Although Highclere Castle is the real ancestral home to the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon, whose family have lived there since 1679, it is now recognised the world over as the fictional home of the aristocratic Crawley family and the staff that served them in Downton Abbey, the awardwinning historical drama television series, and subsequent eponymous movie. Set in the glorious Hampshire countryside, the Downton Abbey film crew were spoiled with choice of where to film, given the magnificent stately home has over 300 opulently decorated rooms and 1,000 acres of spectacular parkland. And with the movie sequel, Downton Abbey: A New Era soon to be released, viewers yet again will feast their eyes on the beauty and grandeur of this spectacular Gothic Italian mansion. In a candid interview with Lord Carnarvon, he admits that some areas of the castle had been in pretty poor shape but that Downton together with Highclere’s highly acclaimed Egyptian Exhibition have helped enormously with some much-needed restoration and renovation projects. Lord Carnarvon is full of enthusiasm about the future of Highclere, and tells Dream Escape about several of the exciting projects that he, and his wife Lady Fiona, are currently working on.

The Saloon

Despite all the challenges, Lord Carnarvon knows how fortunate he is to be living in such a unique place, saying that: “It is an extraordinary privilege to be living in this amazing landscape, and even on a horrible dull day like today there is something beautiful to be seen.”

Do you live at Highclere full-time?

For a long time now, we have actually lived in a smaller house, barely 60 metres away from the main house, but when we want to have lots of friends to stay we move in, just as we did for our recent Burns Night party and shoot. We also move in when Downton is being filmed.

How was Highclere chosen as the Downton film location?

To be fair, Sir Julian Fellowes, who did such a wonderful job with the Downton script, and his wife Emma, were already friends and had been to stay with us and so knew the building well. Highclere was one of the first places they came to see but then they disappeared for a long time. We’d thought they’d given up on us and we were away in the middle of Italy when Julian called and told us to come back as they’d decided it was going to be Highclere!

The Music Room

Has Highclere been used as a location before?

Yes, it has. It appeared in Stanley Kubrick’s film Eyes Wide Shut and was used as one of the fictional locations – Totleigh Towers – in Jeeves and Wooster (a British comedy drama TV series).

Why do you think Highclere worked so well for Downton?

One of the things that Julian would have recognised apart from the beauty of the house, its standing in the historic landscape and that fact it’s only 55 miles from London, is its design. You have the majestic arrival when you come into the extraordinary Gothic hall then the arching height of the main saloon and the amazing staircase where people can come down looking glorious for dinner, so it’s an ideal setting in a theatrical sense.

The Drawing Room

Do visitors get to see ‘below stairs’ at Highclere?

As we have this fantastic Egyptian Exhibition in the basement, visitors get to see a lot of the below stairs area on the way down.

Tell us more about The Egyptian Exhibition?

We installed it about 12 years ago to display objects that relate back to my great-grandfather (George, the 5th Earl) and his archaeologist friend Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. A large part of the original collection was sold and can now be seen in The Met Museum in New York. My great-grandfather was a pioneer in many things and my wife Fiona is writing a book on his amazing life. We could never have forecast the success of the exhibition and it coincided with the Downton series with bringing in many new visitors. Together these successes have allowed us to fix up so many things, such as the follies, the walled garden and the Victorian greenhouses.

The Monks Garden

Was Highclere struggling financially pre-Downton?

It is a question I am often asked. After m y Pa died in 2001, it coincided with a boom in corporate hospitality and events, and so Fiona and I literally worked our socks every off day and night. We earned enough to fix the worst bits, such as the roof of the saloon area. The great thing about the success of Downton is that it has allowed us to fix up the bedrooms on the first and on the second floor so we can now fill up our dining room table with people that can stay happily in the house and have hot water! It’s also allowed us to fix up things like the glorious 18th-century follies, which bring in no income whatsoever but are a key part of Highclere’s heritage and landscape.

How many follies are there?

Seven. One of them, The Temple of Diana I fixed up years ago and this was the lake scene folly built by Sir Charles Barry in 1836 as a trial project before embarking on the creation of Highclere Castle. What we’ve done in the past 10 years is restore London Lodge, a triumphal entrance arch that has lodges on either side, and made it into a holiday cottage and we’ve restored Winchester Arch too.

Both use Coade stone, an important new building material developed by Eleanor Coade, an architectural engineer. She had to pretend to be a boy at the first part of her career to be taken seriously!

London Lodge

How did Charles Barry get involved with the design?

Barry, as a young man, spent his time touring in Italy drawing all the beautiful buildings. He came back home and used his skill as a draughtsman with his extraordinary imagination to create these amazing Italian Gothic buildings, which was the design specification given to him by my ancestor. At the same time, Barry was designing The Palace of Westminster (UK Parliament) which was an even more complex operation because it was on the riverbank.

Tell us more about the gardens?

When visitors enter Highclere, they can see the beautiful 18th-century parkland and are able to wander around 20 acres of gardens, including the Secret Garden and the beautiful Arboretum. Fiona and I created the Arboretum about 14 years ago and it’s really coming along now, with lots of native English trees, bulbs, and shrubs. We also created five acres of wild meadow that looks amazing in the summer. And we’ve planted some Japanese cherry trees – a gift from the Japanese people – so hopefully when they blossom it will look like you are visiting Tokyo or Washington!

Tell us more about the Secret Garden?

My grandfather established the Secret Garden in the 1970s with his landscape artist friend Jim Russell. In fact, the first film I was involved in at Highclere was the CBS version of Secret Garden that was filmed here in 1988. We have recently worked hard to really improve this garden and it does look rather amazing, with all types of sights and smells.

The Entrance to the Monks Garden

Harry Hadden-Paton stars as Bertie Pelham, Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith, Tuppence Middleton as Lucy Smith, and Allen Leech as Tom Branson in Downton Abbey, A New Era

Your wife has written many books on Highclere?

Due to the success of Downton, Fiona wrote a book called, Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey. Almina (the 5th Countess) was extraordinary, a real powerhouse of energy, and was the daughter of Alfred Rothschild. She not only transformed Highclere but also turned it into a fully operational hospital for the first two years of WWI.

Many big houses were used as convalescent homes – as Julian portrayed in Downton – but few were run as hospitals. However, sexist it sounds today, it was incredibly rare for a woman to be running a military hospital. Fiona also wrote a book about my father’s American mother, another strong lady called Catherine Wendell, as well as several glossy coffee-table books about Highclere.

What’s your favourite room in Highclere?

One of the rooms I like the most is the Smoking Room. It’s the most stunning room which features the huge and beautiful still-life landscape painted by the famous Dutch artist Jan Weenix.

The Smoking Room

Do you or your family appear in Downton?

No, we didn’t ever get involved because we had so much to do behind the scenes, as the filming days were long and the whole estate was part of the set.

Laura Haddock stars as Myrna Dalgleish and Michael Fox as Andy in Downton Abbey, A New Era

Did you get to know any of the actors?

Hugh Bonneville stars as Robert Grantham and Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary in Downton Abbey, A New Era

Lots of them, such as Jim Carter (Carson), Hugh Bonneville (Earl Grantham), Lesley Nicol (Mrs Patmore) and Joanna Froggat (Mrs Bates). They’ve all popped back to see us. During filming we all became family: the location people, directors, actors, everyone...

Why does Highclere appeal to US visitors?

Many Americans came to visit as they were interested in Egyptology, but now we have even more since Downton. Highclere also has quite a few US connections, as my mother was born in Wyoming, my uncle was senator for Wyoming and my grandmother was from Virginia.

I believe your father was a great friend with HRH Queen Elizabeth II?

Yes, he was a lifelong friend, and after the war he was Her Majesty’s racing manager and they both shared a huge interest in horses.

Do you keep in touch with her?

Absolutely. In fact, Highclere Castle Gin sponsored a horse race in Salisbury last year and it was her filly that won the race. We sent Her Majesty a bottle of gin and she kindly wrote us a thank you.

Is gin another new venture?

Yes, it came slightly out of the blue when a friend in the spirits business said why don’t we collaborate. It’s been very popular and won lots of awards.

What’s the next project?

We have planted some vines so, hopefully, over the next few years we will have Chateau Highclere English Sparkling Wine, which would be rather fun.

How do you see your children being involved going forward?

Well, George is the oldest, then there’s my daughter Saoirse and Edward is the youngest. I hope they all have ideas that add value and keep the whole place going. The old idea that you just sat back taking in rent to keep a place like this is long gone.

The Downton Abbey sequel film, Downton Abbey, A New Era, will be in theatres in 2022.

The South-East Corner of the Castle

Dream Escape's Blue Badge Guide, Sally Strange with Lord Carnarvon

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Holly Mackie, Owner and Director

“We pride ourselves on our insider knowledge and personal connections, and to share this magnificent stately home with clients as part of our amazing 'set-jetting' itineraries is very special and a truly immersive experience for anyone to enjoy.”

⬥ holly@dreamescape.co.uk

WORDS | ANNABEL MACKIE

IMAGES IN THIS FEATURE ARE COURTESY OF AND © ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES / BEN BLACKALL / 2021 FOCUS FEATURES, LLC / HIGHCLERE CASTLE