Television hit Downton Abbey helps save the real stately home where it is filmed

Television hit Downton Abbey helps save the real stately home where it is filmed

ITV's latest costume drama, Downton Abbey, is fast becoming one of my favourite television programmes and a particular Sunday treat (as I'm sure it is for many of my readers).

Now as well as providing us vintage aficionados with a healthy dose of Edwardiana the series (which, you'll all be pleased to hear, has just had a second series commissioned) has gone some way to improving the fortunes of the stately home where it is filmed.

Eagle-eyed vintage viewers will also recognise Highclere Castle from the early-90s Jeeves & Wooster series, where it played the part of Totleigh Towers. In recent years the building has been in need of some repair but now with the great interest that viewers have taken in it since the broadcast of Downton Abbey the current owners are in a position to embark on the renovation of this historic pile and eventually, it is hoped, open it to the public.
It is splendid to see that there is still such a great interest taken in this country's ancient buildings and architectural history and that TV programmes like Downton Abbey are so popular that they encourage people not only to visit but also, ultimately, to preserve these important historic houses. Well done, everyone, and the best of luck to the owners the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon.