wishing downton was a real place well it
practically is from the real crawly
house to the actual community green
here's everything you need to know about
downton abbey's filming location
brampton is a tiny village in west
oxfordshire in 2009 it was selected as
the perfect filming location for the
fictional yorkshire village of downton
in downton abbey
in downton abbey the village of downton
is a quaint ancient town in the north of
england in real life the village of
bampton is pretty similar although it is
much further south it's pretty much the
most english town out there which is
great considering what we know about the
true importance of those refined english
accents
yeah hey guys that may be hard to
achieve
as the parish council of bampton notes
bampton is actually one of england's
oldest towns dating back to the iron age
prior to that the town may have even
existed during roman times around the
time bamton was built between 1650 and
1750 it became well known for selling
leather and middle-class people settled
there in masses it had grown by the 19th
century boasting over 20 shops in the
20th century when downton abbey is set
the town probably looked a lot like it
does on the show it had an active
community and several annual fairs
apparently many of the old village
customs still exist to this day
it's clear that the town of bampton has
all the history that the production team
needed for the town of downton but why
was that particular location chosen
there are plenty of other british towns
that had the right look to pass as an
early 20th century village in a
documentary for the bbc the show's
creator julian fellowes explained i seem
to remember i was simply shown
photographs of bampton and it seemed
perfect
apparently it actually took the
production team a while to find their
perfect locale according to the whitney
gazette dame pippa harris a resident of
bamton recommended the village to her
friend donal harris the show's
production designer another bampton
local robin shukberg elaborates on the
tale on his youtube channel
within a week he was here with his team
and it looked as though he'd found the
perfect place not only did the town have
wonderful historic features but it was
also close to high clear castle and had
plenty of parking space for the film
crew
plenty of scenes in downton abbey take
place at the local church mary's wedding
mr carson's wedding baby christenings
and so on the beautiful historic church
of downton was actually the church of
saint mary the virgin bampton as robin
schuchberg explained in his video on his
youtube channel the cotswold explorer
the church was a key filming location
the church was the only building we used
for filming indoors in bampton every
other bit of filming was done just on
the external parts of the buildings but
in this case they used the inside as
well funnily enough the church has
become so recognizable as a downton
abbey staple that many fans of the show
forget that it's just a fictional
location shuckbug shares
many a local in this village has been
asked in all seriousness by visiting
tourists where they can find matthew
crawley's gravestone now that really is
a bit weird then again that's a pretty
tame interaction as far as downton abbey
fans are concerned my heart has been
broken in a thousand little beasts at
the toilet why would you do that why god
why
remember the local pub in the village of
downton there were a few key pub scenes
in the show often between anna and mr
bates it turns out the exterior of the
pub in bampton wasn't actually a real
pub in fact it was just a cottage that
they transformed for the show
the now privately owned cottage has
skyrocketed in value since filming
bampton local robin schuckburg commented
it's changed hands several times in the
last few years which gives you some
indication as to what happens when a
major television series is filmed in
your village apparently the owners of
the cottage kept the original grantham
arms sign that was used in the first
series so while you can't go party up at
the downtown pub you can definitely make
it look that way on instagram
in the very first episode of downton
abbey we see isabel and matthew crawley
move into their new home in downton the
exterior shots of the house were filmed
at churchgate house in bampton a private
family home according to local robin
shukberg the owner of the house often
gets hilarious questions from downton
fans like do you live here did you buy
the house from the crawley family sounds
like some fans can't quite wrap their
heads around the fact that downton abbey
is fictional
in a documentary for the bbc actor hugh
bonneville spoke to the owners rod and
maggie harris apparently they've lived
in the house since 1991 when they bought
it and completely renovated it of course
the interiors of the crawley house were
actually shot somewhere else so most
fans will never get to see inside
another prominent location in downton
abbey was the hospital where dr clarkson
worked in reality the building is an old
grammar school in bampton the grammar
school has been restored over the past
years thanks to a fundraising campaign
started by actor hugh bonneville
according to schuckberg once the
restorations are finished it will be a
permanent exhibition of the filming of
downton in bampton along with other
exhibitions and events in an interview
between schuchberg and bonneville the
pair discussed the importance of the
building to bampton
there's some fascinating law it was
first built in the 17th century by
robert vesey who was a well-known rogue
but despite vesey's impishness the
residents of the town embrace the
building and they still use it today as
library and archives the village green
sanford field was used for some of the
outdoor fairs and events in downton
abbey you may remember when lord
grantham stood outside on the lush green
and considered building more houses on
the field apparently the bridge he
crossed was constructed just for the
show in his youtube documentary robin
shukberg explains this is sanford field
a very important part of our lives in
bampton where all the outside events are
held the latest was the donkey derby
which was just a couple of weekends ago
the weather sean and the children rode
the donkeys
sounds like something pulled straight
out of a downton abbey episode if you
ask us
because there are so many recognizable
locations in bampton the town now has
its own downton abbey tour for fans who
visit just to bask in downton's charm
the tour's headquarters are located in
the bampton library where the hospital
was filmed a local volunteer told the
whitney gazette the film has regenerated
interest and more people than ever are
coming to the town in a documentary for
the cotswold explorer robin shuckburgh
spoke about how tourism in bamton has
remained steady even though the show has
been off the air for years the projects
are that we will go on having you know
tens of thousands of visitors every year
we had 27 000 i think it was that came
through this shop this year it sounds
like downton is still just as popular as
ever one of the most remarkable things
about downton abbey's time in bampton is
just how well the cast and crew got
along with the local villagers the
show's creator julian fellowes told the
bbc they were so understanding and nice
and they sort of looked after us
in fact the cast and crew were so
appreciative of the bampton locals they
said thank you with a huge barbecue when
the sixth season wrapped local robin
chuckburg was of course in attendance he
recalled in an interview with actor hugh
bonneville it was an absolutely
wonderful evening and yeah being served
burgers and wine by you guys was
enormous fun
clearly the cast and the villagers
became good friends after 10 years of
filming
while bampton did provide most of the
exterior village shots in downton abbey
it wasn't the only village featured in
the series laycock a tiny village in
wiltshire appeared in the 2019 film
and as soon as we saw church street it
was a no-brainer it was going to be here
the village is owned by the united
kingdom's national trust because of its
many ancient buildings this makes it
perfect for british shows harry potter
wolf hall pride and prejudice and the
other berlin girl all shot scenes in
laycock too laycock appeared in the
downton abbey film during the parade
scene which needed to be a grand affair
speaking to the national trust producer
gareth neem explained
the parade scene featured 350 extras
including real life laycock villagers in
period accurate costumes and 80 soldiers
on horseback plus a royal carriage
apparently laycock was better suited
than bampton for this scene julian
fellowes told the national trust
blaycock plays its role beautifully as a
part of the village of downton which
somehow we have never seen before
of course the most famous downton abbey
location is the abbey itself both up and
downstairs the house
is the uh is the principal character in
which this big family exists
in real life the house is called high
clear castle the castle is only an
hour's drive from bamton where the local
village scenes were filmed the castle is
still home to the fifth earl of
carnarvon and his family but the house
is opened up to the public for some of
the year as the radio times noted the
house looks a lot like it does on the
show and you can see plenty of familiar
scenes both inside and outside if you're
an avid tv and film fan you might even
recognize the castle from its other
appearances in films like eyes wide shut
robin hood prince of thieves and the
secret garden with bamton just an hour
away you can see all of the famous
downton spots in just one day
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