The ITV drama series Downton Abbey has taken the world by storm. The period drama portrays the lives of the Crawley family and their servants and the trials and tribulations of their magnificent home. The story is set in North Yorkshire but the locations where the three series were filmed are actually mostly to be found much farther south. If you’d like to experience the world of Downton Abbey for yourself here are the places you should visit.

The Abbey

Downton Abbey itself is actually Highclere Castle which is near Newbury in Berkshire. The castle is used for the exterior shots and most of the interior filming of Downton and was in the mind of Julian Fellowes when he started to write the series. The house is open to the public during the Easter and Summer holidays as well as some bank holidays but such has been the interest in the venue post Downton Abbey that tickets for some dates can sell out months in advance. On touring Highclere you can visit the state rooms on the ground floor and some of the bedrooms on the first floor. Many of the rooms, the furniture and the iconic oak staircase will be familiar to fans of Downton Abbey as will the extensive grounds which you can also enjoy after your tour.

Below Stairs

The scenes below stairs, servants’ quarters and some of the bedrooms of the main house were actually filmed at Ealing Studios and so cannot be visited. The sets which were constructed at the studios included a recreation of a servants’ staircase at Highclere.

The Village

The village used in the show is Bampton, Oxfordshire. This small village now receives many visits from Downton enthusiasts who come to see St Mary’s Church where Lady Mary married Matthew Crawley and also the library whose entrance was used in the show as that of the military hospital set up in the village to cope with the wounded from the First World War. Mrs Crawley’s house is also situated in the village although the interior scenes are filmed elsewhere. The village locals are used as extras for filming in the show and they are apparently expecting property prices to rise in the village as a result of the popularity of Downton Abbey.

Other Locations

There are many scenes from the First World War trenches featured in the series and these were filmed near the village of Akenham in Suffolk. The fictional stately home Haxby Park, which was the estate publisher Sir Richard Carlisle intended to purchase as a home for himself and Lady Mary, is in fact part of Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire. The house can be visited between late May and late October. Duneagle Castle, the setting for the 2012 Christmas special is actually Inverarary Castle near Loch Lomond in Scotland. The castle can be toured from late March until Late October and is the ancestral home of the Duke of Argyll. Greys Court in Oxfordshire was used as the Crawley’s second property Downton Place. The house is situated 3 miles from Henley-on-Thames and is open from March until October. The Dowager Countess’s home is Byfleet Manor in Surrey but this is a private home which cannot be toured. Finally the prison scenes were filmed at Lincoln Castle.

Worth A Visit

The filming locations of Downton Abbey are fantastic attractions in their own right and well worth a visit even if you are not a fan of the program. If you are an enthusiast you will greatly enjoy the familiar scenes that will unfold before you.

Citations:

• Photograph of Highclere Castle by Richard Munckton Via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source

Guest author Sally Stacey is a big Downton Abbey fan and is lucky enough to not live too far away from the real thing! Sally is writing for National Furniture UK, retailer of high quality Oak living furniture, perfect for recreating that Downton feel in your very own home.

My husband is quite a bit more healthy than I am. I’ll just put that out there right now as a caveat. But he came home the other day with something called a ‘wheat grass kit‘ which allows you to grow some wheat grass, harvest it, and turn it into a wheat grass shot. The wheat grass shot itself tastes exactly like freshly mown grass. It actually made me sick the first 2 or 3 times I took it. But my husband swears by it, so I put myself through the effort, just for him.

Since Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, I figured I would make myself take the shots with him every day until Valentine’s day, as my gift to him. But it was amazing at how much more energy, strength, and overall ‘good’ I felt after a week of taking the shots with him.

And it’s a lot less expensive than other ‘shake’ options out there like the p90x Shakeology. Granted, Shakeology is a whole lot more than wheat grass. But I’ve tried both now, and I feel like my body responds quite a bit more favorably to the wheat grass shots.

Honestly, I probably won’t take them for a long time from here on out. It’s an acquired taste, and I still haven’t acquired it yet. But my husband is happy, which is what counts I suppose.

 

Visiting an art museum in a new city can be a great way to spend an afternoon when you’re traveling; it can also be a little overwhelming if you’re not very familiar with the artists displayed in the museum. Or maybe you just want to add art to one of your conversation topics for dinner parties. A great way to become familiar with art is to become familiar with a handful of artists at a time. Here, find a list of five dead artists you should know.

Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) is heralded as one of the greatest modern painters in history, according to current scholars. His post-impressionist works—typified by his unique painting stroke–include Starry Night, which can be found on everything from printed posters to credit cards, and Sunflowers. He’s also known for his personal struggles with mental illness, which led to him cutting off his own ear and committing suicide at the age of 37. Van Gogh was not recognized as a great painter while he was alive; it was only after he’d passed away that his art received any notice.

Michelangelo

Long before Madonna, Prince, and Cher, Michelangelo (1475-1563) was the first legendarily single-named artist. And for good reason—his full name (Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni) is quite a mouthful. Michelangelo was a part of the Italian Renaissance, and was a jack-of-all trades when it came to which art form he preferred. He is known primarily for his sculptures (David and the Pieta are his most famous) and one massively epic painting—the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Frida Kahlo

Friday Kahlo (1907-1954) is one of the most famous female painters of all time. She is known primarily for her self-portraits and her infamous unibrow, but her most significant contribution is the way she brought the Mexican folk art of her ancestry into the realm of fine art. She was also active politically. A film about her life was made in 1992, starring actress Salma Hayek. The film won two Academy Awards.

Jean-Michel Basquiat

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was a quintessentially American modern artist. His art was focused on the politically dichotomy of urban America, which stemmed from his experiences as a graffiti artist in New York. He died young, at 27, of a heroin overdose. His art features bright colors and disjointed figures, and is usually mixed media—a term that means that his art is not solely painting, or drawing, or sculpture, but a combination. A film was made about his life in 1996.

Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali (1904-1989) is the first name in surrealism, an art movement that was interested less in depicting reality and more in depicting the perception of reality. It is often rife with symbolism. To that end, his work (including The Persistence of Memory) communicates anxiety and emotion through motifs such as melting clocks. He was also a filmmaker; his most famous film, Un Chien Andalou, notoriously featured an eyeball being cut open. It also influenced 1980s rock band The Pixies on their song, Debaser.

Dustin Heath is a lawyer by profession. With work experience spanning a decade, his expertise has led him to work on corporate cases, representing prestigious companies and brands In his spare time, he writes for a weekly paper in his community, discussing his passion for do-it-yourself projects and valuable tips in home and living. He also teaches pre-law subjects in the university he graduated from and plans to be a book author in the future. He gets most of his ideas from the great attorney, Michael Ward Stout.

The English Language has been created, developed and interpreted in various ways, sparking debates about the use of punctuation to the spelling of what should be simple words. We as humans have a habit of having an ability to spell words people would usually find difficult (90% is pure luck by guessing) but the simple words seem to throw us a curve ball. Here are some simple spelling tasks that our brains just don’t seem to want to spell correctly.

‘Lose’ and ‘Loose’

One defines the opposite of ‘win’, and the other defines the opposite of ‘tight’ – but many people forget the terminology and put these words in the completely wrong sentence. Although by accident, we seem to think that the word ‘lose’ is ‘loose’ and therefore make a complete fool of ourselves when we use it in everyday situations. To text someone and go “Hi, I’ll be late home because my tire is lose” should be illegal and people really should know the difference. If you allow your grammar to be let loose, then you shall lose.

‘Weird’

It is weird how this is another word we seem to forget how to spell, despite being taught several times in rudimentary English lessons. A cruel lesson to be learnt should be that every time people misspell ‘weird’ they get shocked with 1000V of pure electricity and that should do the trick. We generally use this word as a word of unsettlement or use it to someone acting like a “creep”. To call someone “weird” could be both a compliment and an insult at the same time, but if you do use it please spell it correctly!

The ‘they’re, their and there’ Conundrum

How many times must we misuse these three words in every day context!? It’s such a simple process, with the apostrophe in the word “they’re” offering us a massive hint of where to use this word! These three set of words are the most commonly misspelled in the English language, as education and grammar seems to wear off after about 30 years. To clarify, “they’re” is used if you are talking about a group of people and what they are going to do; “their” is to define possession on somebody else’s behalf and “there” is simply to define a location as to where you/somebody else is going. In a nutshell, the sentence “They’re going over there on their motorbikes” is both a tongue-twister and grammatically correct. Use it well, people.

The ‘you’re and your’ Issue

If you’re speaking on your own behalf, you must use these terms correctly to save yourself from looking like you are uneducated. A quick English lesson here: You use ‘you’re’ when you’re define something that you personally are going to do, and you use ‘your’ to define something of your own personal possession. It’s not that difficult, so stop rushing your work and proof read every sentence, to avoid the inevitable “you can’t spell” tease from your social group.

These “conundrums” have baffled people for years and people still confuse themselves but that is a part of nature. Be careful though, especially young people as you must use your grammar correctly to succeed, especially in an English course. When doing every piece of work, check your sentence for grammar and punctuation and make sure you know what you’re talking about, in case your teacher/tutor questions you on the knowledge of the particular subject.

A word of warning to university students studying English – your dissertation is vital! Punctuation and grammar is just the foundation basics you need to get the crucial marks on knowing your stuff.

Ian Appleton is a writer who used a professional dissertation binding service when he was at university before submitting this piece of work. It made the content look impressive and presentable, helping him to get a great result.